On February 27, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued a new Counter Terrorism and Iran-related General License No. 8 (“GL 8”) together with new frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) about the general license and the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (“SHTA”). New GL 8 authorizes US Persons and non-US entities owned or controlled by US Persons to engage in Iran-related humanitarian transactions even if the CBI is directly or indirectly involved.…
On February 20, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) published two new Frequently Asked Questions regarding the interim final rule of June 21, 2019 that amended the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations, 31 CFR Part 501 (the “RPPR Rule”). These FAQs hope to clarify some of the issues that arose from the interim final rule but still leaves areas of uncertainty, such as what constitutes a rejected transactions. For example,…
On February 18, 2019, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), pursuant to Executive Order 13850 (“EO 13850”), designated Rosneft Trading S.A., the Swiss-incorporated, Russian-controlled oil brokerage firm, as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy. OFAC also designated the President and Chairman of Rosneft Trading S.A., Didier Casimiro, as an SDN for purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly…
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…