On March 4, 2025, the US Department of State announced the redesignation of Ansarallah (a political movement and militia group in Yemen also known as the Houthis) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (“FTO”). The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) separately designated seven high-ranking members of Ansarallah as Specially Designated Nationals (“SDNs”) for smuggling weapons into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and negotiating weapons procurement from Russia. In addition, OFAC designated…
The Biden Administration issued another round of sanctions against Russia in its final days, with less than a week left in the Administration. This followed on the heels of major sanctions imposed by OFAC on Russia’s energy sector just five days prior – see our blog post on that development here. Specifically, on January 15, 2025, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the US Department of State (“State”)…
On January 6, 2025, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued new General License No. 24 (“GL”), which authorizes certain transactions formerly prohibited by several US sanctions programs. OFAC also issued eight new Syria Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) and amended one existing FAQ, as part of its effort to ease certain trading restrictions after rebel forces toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8, 2024. General License No. 24 This…
On November 21, 2024, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated dozens of Russian banks, including Gazprombank and other Russian banks, securities registrars, and finance officials, to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”). The full SDN designation of Gazprombank, the largest remaining Russian bank, is particularly notable given its role in supporting gas flows between Russia and remaining European and other customers. On the…