On August 14, 2023, the US State Department, the Labor Department, and the Commerce Department issued a business advisory (“Business Advisory”) highlighting key risks for companies operating in South Sudan. While it does not impose new legal obligations on companies, the Business Advisory highlights the fact that list-based sanctions remain in force targeting certain South Sudanese persons including designations under the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, and…
On 22 August, it was reported that the UK Government is considering the proscription of the Wagner group as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000. The Wagner group is a collection of individuals and entities globally making up the ‘Wagner Network’, which is engaged in military, economic, political, and influencing operations. They are known for being a private military company. Proscribing Wagner as a terrorist organisation would put it in the same legal…
On June 27, 2023, the US Departments of State, the Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and Homeland Security, and the United States Agency for International Development issued a joint advisory — the Africa Gold Advisory (“Advisory”) — that (i) highlights the opportunities and specific risks raised by the gold trade across sub-Saharan Africa and (ii) encourages industry participants to adopt and apply strengthened due diligence practices to guard against such risks. The Advisory states that it was…
On Monday 5th June, the EU published an amendment to the existing sanctions against Russia, which came into force on Monday 5th June. The implementing regulation is available here. These measures permit the designation of leading business persons operating in Russia, along with: These amendments were made on the basis that leading Russian business persons have engaged in a systematic practice of distributing their funds and assets amongst their immediate family members and others in…