El 18 de octubre de 2023, la Oficina de Control de Activos Extranjeros (“OFAC”) del Departamento del Tesoro de EE.UU. aplicó un levantamiento limitado de las sanciones bajo el Reglamento de Sanciones contra Venezuela (el “VSR”) al Gobierno de Venezuela (el “GOV”) y ciertos sectores de la economía venezolana en respuesta a la firma de un acuerdo de hoja de ruta electoral entre representantes del GOV y los partidos políticos de la oposición venezolana. La…
On October 18, 2023, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) implemented limited sanctions relief under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations (the “VSR”) to the Government of Venezuela (the “GOV”) and certain sectors of the Venezuelan economy in response to the signing of an electoral roadmap agreement between GOV representatives and Venezuelan political opposition parties. OFAC and the State Department have made clear that additional sanctions relief and the continuance of…
On October 17, 2023, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) released two interim final rules (collectively, the “October 2023 IFRs” available here and here) amending the Export Administration Regulations (the “EAR”) to further strengthen export controls on advanced computing items, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and items that can support end uses related to the development and production of supercomputers, advanced-node integrated circuits and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The long-awaited October 2023 IFRs…
On September 8, 2023, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) published a Financial Trend Analysis (“FTA”) highlighting trends related to suspected evasion of Russia-related export controls observed in reports required to be filed by financial institutions with FinCEN under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), such as through suspicious activity reports. The FTA highlights certain evasion red flags useful for purposes of companies’ own compliance efforts, while also serving as a…