On 29 June 2024, the EU adopted a new Belarus sanctions package by amending Council Regulation (EU) 765/2006 (the “EU Belarus Sanctions“), effective from 1 July 2024. The amending regulation can be found here. The new package increases the alignment of the EU Belarus Sanctions with the EU’s sanctions against Russia (including those contained in Regulation (EU) 833/2014 (the “EU Russia Sanctions“), as recently updated), in order to address the risk of circumvention. The new…
On 14 December 2023, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) published its 2022-2023 annual review (see here). The review summarises OFSI’s activities over the 2022-2023 financial year and looks ahead at trends and OFSI’s priorities for the next year. Russia Sanctions The report has a particular focus on the UK’s expanded Russia sanctions regime, stating that by 31 March 2023, “130 oligarchs and family members” who had a combined net worth of around £145…
On 18 December 2023, the EU published its 12th package of sanctions targeting Russia via Regulation (EU) 2023/2878 and Regulation (EU) 2023/2875, amending Regulation (EU) 833/2014 and Regulation (EU) 269/2014, respectively (collectively, “12th EU Russia Sanctions Package”). The amendments to Regulation (EU) 269/2014 (related to Designated Persons (“DPs”)) are effective immediately while the amendments to Regulation (EU) 833/2014 become effective today, 19 December 2023. These amendments have a material impact on all businesses with a…
On August 23, 2023, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued the first Determination Pursuant to Section 1(a)(i) of Executive Order (“EO”) 14014 (the “Determination”), which extends the application of section 1(a)(i) of EO 14014 to the jet fuel sector of the Burmese economy. On the same day, OFAC also published two related Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”): FAQ 1132 and FAQ 1133. Our blog post on the issuance of EO 14014…