On July 31, 2026, authorities from the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom issued a joint alert warning countries, companies, and other entities about the threat posed by information technology (“IT”) workers of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK” or “North Korea”). According to the alert, North Korea relies on a network of skilled IT workers, deployed both within and…
On July 17, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced certain updates and changes to its Hong Kong-related sanctions program following the expiration of the national emergency declared in Executive Order (“EO”) 13936, The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization. Key changes include: What Changed? OFAC explained that the expiration of EO 13936 does not affect the continuing validity of either the HKAA or the Hong Kong…
On July 10, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a series of Iran-related sanctions designations targeting Iranian financial facilitator Ali Ansari and his financial network, as well as several Iranian exchange houses accused of facilitating transactions for sanctioned Iranian banks. Concurrently, OFAC issued General License Y (“GL Y”), authorizing the temporary wind down of transactions involving Smart Global Limited, a newly designated holding company allegedly controlled by Ansari.…
On July 8, 2026, the US Department of State announced that President Trump had notified Congress of his administration’s intent to rescind Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (“SST”). The notification initiates a 45-day period that must elapse before the rescission takes effect. In the accompanying press statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “[l]ifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild, and open…