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On February 18, 2021, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) entered into a $507, 375 settlement with BitPay, Inc. (“BitPay”) for 2,102 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs. BitPay, a cryptocurrency company offering payment processing solutions for merchants to accept digital currency as payment for goods and services, agreed to…

President Biden Issues Executive Order Regarding Military Coup in Burma and Sanctioning Military Leaders

On February 10, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order concerning the military coup in Burma on February 1, 2021, in which the military overthrew the democratically elected civilian government and arrested numerous government leaders, politicians, human rights defenders, journalists,…

On January 19, 2021, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned and placed on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List three individuals, fourteen entities, and six vessels for their involvement in a network attempting to evade U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector.  According to a press release, the “illegitimate…

Key Notes:

  • The ban is effective January 11, 2021.
  • Executive Order 13959 bans U.S. persons from transacting in publicly traded securities or derivatives or similar securities of publicly traded Chinese companies designated by the U.S. Department of Defense as enabling Chinese military aims.
  • OFAC has identified, and will continue to add, subsidiaries of the named

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The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of State have announced further sanctions toward Iran by designating and placing on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List a China-based supplier of graphite electrodes, 12 Iranian producers of steel and other metals products, three foreign-based sales agents of a major…

On December 22, 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) formally added the Central Bank of Syria (CBoS) to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. While OFAC notes that the bank is “already blocked as meeting the definition of the Government of Syria in [Executive Order] 13582 and the Syrian…

On December 21, 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three entities it has identified are controlled by the Cuban military and that have “strategic roles in the Cuban economy.” OFAC has placed the following three entities on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List: (1) Grupo de Administración Empresarial…

On December 14, 2020, the State Department announced that the United States was rescinding Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. The brief statement indicated that this removal “represents a fundamental change in our bilateral relationship toward greater collaboration and support for Sudan’s historic democratic transition. This achievement was made possible by the efforts…