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…
On October 30, 2024, the US Government imposed sanctions on hundreds of entities and individuals across the globe, primarily in response to Russia’s continued war in Ukraine, and amended US export controls related to Russia and Belarus. Below, we describe the key actions taken by the US Departments of the Treasury, State, and Commerce. 1. OFAC Actions With the aim of disrupting global sanctions evasion networks and domestic suppliers to Russia’s military-industrial base, the US…
On March 21, 2024, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) revising and expanding the end-user controls under Part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). Specifically, the Final Rule expanded end-user controls applicable to certain persons identified on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”) maintained by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) under various sanctions…
On February 1, 2024, President Biden issued Executive Order 14115 (“EO 14115”) targeting persons involved in activities that threaten the peace, security, and stability in the West Bank. Meanwhile, the UK government announced on 12 February 2024 sanctions on “extremist Israeli settlers” who have committed human rights abuses against Palestinian communities. Pursuant to EO 14115, four individuals were added to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (“SDN List”). Concurrently, the US Treasury Department’s…