OFAC

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its revocation of general license 13E and issuance of general licenses 3H (“Authorizing Transactions Related to Dealings in Certain Bonds”) and 9G (“Authorizing Transactions Related to Dealings in Certain Securities”) to remove references to Nynas AB. Nynas is no longer being blocked…

On April 16, 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a fact sheet noting that the sanctions programs it administers generally allow for legitimate humanitarian-related trade, assistance or activity under existing laws and regulations. The fact sheet provides consolidated guidance highlighting the most relevant exemptions, exceptions and authorizations for…

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated 20 Iran- and Iraq-based front companies, senior officials, and business associates for providing support to, or acting on behalf of, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and for transferring lethal aid to Iranian-backed terrorist militias in Iraq such as Kata’ib Hizballah…

On March 25, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued amended General License 1A “Official Business of the United States Government” and General License 2A “Authorizing the Wind Down of Transactions Involving the Nicaraguan National Police” to clarify they were also issued under the Nicaraguan Human Rights and…

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced its extension of two general licenses related to GAZ Group, Ukraine-related General License No. 13N, “Authorizing Certain Transactions Necessary to Divest or Transfer Debt, Equity, or Other Holdings in GAZ Group” and Ukraine-related General License No. 15H, “Authorizing Certain Activities…

In its continuing effort to tighten economic sanctions on Iran, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned five United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based companies that facilitate the Iranian regime’s petroleum and petrochemical sales. According to OFAC, these companies in 2019 “collectively purchased hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum…

UPDATED: April 6, 2020 – Major operational changes continue at trade-related U.S. government agencies and courts  due to personnel and public safety concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. Below is currently available information on their status. Overall, the Office of Personnel Management has announced that as of March 16, 2020, and until…

On January 10, 2020, President Donald Trump issued “Executive Order on Imposing Sanctions with Respect to Additional Sectors of Iran,” implementing further sanctions on Iran and blocking the assets and property of additional senior Iranian government officials. The executive order authorizes economic sanctions on entities operating in the construction, mining, manufacturing or textiles sectors of…

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced a new “humanitarian mechanism” to ensure transparency in humanitarian trade with Iran. According to OFAC, this mechanism “will help the international community perform enhanced due diligence on humanitarian trade to ensure that funds associated with permissible trade in support of the Iranian…

The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a long-awaited final rule prohibiting the opening or maintaining of correspondent accounts in the United States for, or on behalf of, Iranian financial institutions, and the use of foreign financial institutions’ correspondent accounts at covered U.S. financial institutions to process transactions involving Iranian…