On July 23, 2026, the US Department of State designated multiple entities and individuals in Cuba, and the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued three new Cuba-related general licenses. The actions are intended to further restrict revenue streams supporting the Cuban government, including activities tied to the energy sector, sanctions evasion networks, financial services, and Cuba’s overseas medical missions program. The designations and general licenses were issued under Executive…
On July 27, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a statement (here) of enforcement policy committing not to take supervisory or enforcement action against US financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) in connection with the provision of authorized financial services provided in Venezuela. The statement was issued in consultation with the Internal Revenue Service and the staffs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve…
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 June 23, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) published a joint statement reflecting on their latest Enhanced Partnership exchange and issued a new joint guidance document that provides a comparative overview of the US and UK sanctions regimes. The joint statement and guidance follow a January 2026 in-person meeting between OFSI and OFAC. The statement and accompanying guidance…