The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has issued an interim final rule to extend OFAC’s recordkeeping requirements for certain transactions from 5 to 10 years. This development mirrors the recent extension of the statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (“TWEA”) to 10 years. Civil enforcement actions brought by OFAC for violations of IEEPA or…
Baker McKenzie will be hosting a seminar on 8 October 2024 in Dubai as part of our EMEA Russia Sanctions Briefings. We will be joined for the seminar by representatives from our Global Sanctions Investigations Group, including from our US and London offices. The seminars will focus on the multijurisdictional sanctions challenges facing financial institutions and other companies in the Gulf, in relation to the US, UK, EU and UAE sanctions regimes, particularly against Russia.…
On August 15, 2024, the US Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) published the long-awaited final rule (“Final Rule”), effective September 16, 2024, expanding the definition of “activities that are not exports, reexports, retransfers, or temporary imports” pursuant to Section 120.54 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). Please see our previous blog here when DDTC issued a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) to make these changes. The Final Rule adds…
The Middle East is an increasingly important jurisdiction for Western governments from a Russia sanctions foreign policy perspective, as there is a perception that increased trade flows between the Middle East and Russia means that Western sanctions are effectively being circumvented. Companies in the Middle East may have concerns about triggering EU / UK / US sanctions jurisdiction, or being directly designated by Western governments for engaging in activities deemed to be contrary to the…