On January 16, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) released a new frequently asked question (“FAQ”) regarding Iran-related sanctions. This FAQ comes on the heels of the US Government’s recent issuance of Executive Order 13902 (“EO 13902”) on January 10, 2020, which expanded secondary sanctions to target the Iranian construction, mining, manufacturing, and textile sectors and those parties engaged in “significant transactions” or providing “material support” to any parties designated…
On October 17, 2019, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) re-issued and amended as General License No. 13D (“GL 13D”) to continue the validity period for transactions concerning Nynas AB and its affiliates (“Nynas”), as further described below.Ā In addition, on October 21, 2019, OFAC re-issued as General License No. 8D (“GL 8D”) to continue the validity period certain maintenance activities involving PetrĆ³leos de Venezuela S.A. (“PdVSA”) where certain entities are involved, as further described below.Ā Finally, on October 24, 2019, OFAC re-issued and amended as General License No. 5A (“GL 5A”) to prohibit dealings or payments for three months related to a specific PdVSA bond.Ā Our blog post regarding previous amendments to these GLs is available here.
On 14 October, the United States and European Union each adopted sanctions measures targeting Turkey, in response to Turkey’s military offensive in northern Syria.Ā Subject to certain exceptions discussed further below, the US measures under a new Syria-related Executive Order (“New Syria EO“) took effect immediately and authorize sanctions targeting parties engaging in certain Syria-related activities, the Government of Turkey and Turkish Government officials, and certain sectors of the Turkish economy.
The EU measures are expected to come into effect shortly.
On August 30, 2019, the US Commerce Departmentās Bureau of Industry and Security (āBISā) published Due Diligence Guidance urging companies to employ heightened due diligence when exporting to Pakistan (the āPakistan Guidanceā). The Pakistan Guidance specifically focuses on (i) supplemental licensing requirements applicable for items (e.g. goods, software, or technology) subject to the Export Administration Regulations (āEARā) that may be destined to nuclear or missile activities, and (ii) best practices for screening customers in Pakistan to prevent diversion of items subject to the EAR to unauthorized end uses and end users.
BIS published the Pakistan Guidance in an effort to bring attention to compliance risks related exports/reexports to Pakistan after investigations by the BIS Office of Export Enforcement ārevealed schemesā by Pakistani entities attempting to acquire items subject to the EAR for entities listed on the Entity List.Ā The Pakistan Guidelines appear to reflect an enforcement focus on Pakistan from BIS, so companies exporting/reexporting items subject to the EAR to Pakistan should take into account these BIS recommendations to ensure compliance.
Key takeaways from the Pakistan Guidance are found below: