In less than two weeks, we have seen Syria go from one of the most heavily sanctioned countries on the planet to a country well on the road to establishing normal trade relations with the Western world. The latest flurry of developments started on May 13, 2025, when President Trump caught much of the world by surprise when he said in a speech in Riyadh: “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria…
On Friday, May 16, 2025, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (“SECO”) issued a joint Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) in regard to the United States and Switzerland’s commitment to collaborate and share information related to sanctions and enforcement which was signed on May 9, 2025. The notice is published on OFAC’s website here. The MOU provides that information sharing between the United States and…
Join us for a webinar on May 22 where we will examine the U.S. Department of Justice’s final rule on protecting Americans’ sensitive data from foreign adversaries. This groundbreaking regulation, which took effect April 11, 2025, represents a novel approach to U.S. national security concerns related to sensitive data transactions with China, Hong Kong, Macau, Russia and other Countries of Concern and Covered Persons. Drawing from our Primer on the DOJ Final Rule, and Article…
On April 16, 2025, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) re-issued and updated its Advisory for Shipping and Maritime Stakeholders on Detecting and Mitigating Iranian Oil Sanctions Evasion (“the Advisory”), originally issued in September 2019. The updated Advisory is part of OFAC’s implementation of the February 4, 2025 National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-2), which directs the Treasury Department to enact “maximum pressure” on Iran. The Advisory expands on the red flags…