The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has deployed its Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit to target tariff evasion, a clear sign of the escalation of trade enforcement. The Criminal Division’s specialized unit,...more
7/23/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Customs ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Imports ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Harmonization ,
Investigations ,
Market Manipulation ,
Tariffs ,
White Collar Crimes
On June 16, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) National Security Division (NSD) announced that it declined to charge private equity firm White Deer Management LLC (“White Deer”) and its affiliates after the company...more
6/25/2025
/ CEOs ,
CFIUS ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
National Security ,
Private Equity ,
Safe Harbors ,
Voluntary Disclosure
As the third month of the second Trump administration comes to a close, the lack of any public enforcement action by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctions watchers...more
4/25/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Iran ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Penalties ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Russia ,
Settlement ,
Trump Administration ,
Ukraine
The 119th Congress is underway, and Republicans control both chambers. With President Trump in the White House, both the House and the Senate will focus more of their oversight on the private sector. Continuing a trend over...more
2/5/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Banking Sector ,
China ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Technology Sector
On July 23, 2024, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or the “Committee”) released its Annual Report to Congress covering calendar year 2023. In a year that featured lower deal volume, CFIUS...more
On June 24, 2024, the Commerce Department published a Final Determination under its Information and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) authorities. The determination prohibits the Russian-controlled cybersecurity...more
7/16/2024
/ CFIUS ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Transactions ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
FCC ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ,
Information Systems Security Program (ISSP) ,
National Security ,
Risk Assessment ,
Russia ,
Software ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On May 22, 2024, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) National Security Division (NSD) announced its first-ever prosecution declination under its corporate voluntary self-disclosure (VSD) policy for sanctions and export controls...more
On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law a long-debated $98 billion foreign aid and national security legislative package (the “Act”) providing funds for Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, and authorizing new sanctions...more
4/30/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Aid ,
Hamas ,
Harmonization Rules ,
Human Rights ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Israel ,
Joe Biden ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Taiwan ,
Terrorist Acts ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Ukraine
On March 14, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its first enforcement case of the year and its first ever involving dealings with a Russian designated for sanctions...more
3/25/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations (FNKSR) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Russia ,
Securities Transactions ,
U.S. Treasury
Today’s alert—the second in our Sanctions 2023 Year in Review Series—provides an overview of U.S. sanctions enforcement in 2023, including the key lessons learned from the public enforcement actions issued by the U.S....more
3/5/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Technology ,
Ukraine ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers
2023 was another record year for U.S. sanctions and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Most prominently, OFAC continued to impose significant additional sanctions on Russia in...more
3/4/2024
/ China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Hamas ,
Human Rights ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Terrorist Acts ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Ukraine ,
US State Departments ,
Venezuela ,
Virtual Currency
Today’s alert—the third and final installment in our Sanctions 2022 Year in Review series—provides an overview of U.S. sanctions enforcement in 2022, including the key lessons learned from the enforcement actions issued by...more
Last month, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) released its Annual Report to Congress covering 2021. The key takeaway is that CFIUS is more active than ever, subjecting a record number of...more
9/15/2022
/ CFIUS ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mitigation ,
National Security ,
Written Notice
Back in July, we took a look at the enforcement actions for the first half of 2021 issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Today’s post – the second half of our OFAC 2021 Year...more
2/9/2022
/ Cloud Storage ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Digital Currency ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Geolocation ,
Know Your Customers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
2021 was a year of transition in the United States and for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). OFAC’s year, while busy, was far different from 2020, as the Biden Administration’s...more
2/8/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Burma ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Forced Labor ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA) ,
Iran ,
NDAA ,
NGOs ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury
After several years of foreign and domestic negotiations surrounding controls on intrusion software, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS) published an interim final rule on October 21, 2021,...more
11/5/2021
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Commerce Control List ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
ECCNs ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Popular ,
Software ,
The Wassenaar Arrangement
On July 26, 2021, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) released its unclassified Annual Report to Congress for the 2020 calendar year. The Annual Report provides statistics and insights into the...more
As peak summer holiday season approaches, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) continues to remind the private sector of the importance of strict economic sanctions compliance. OFAC...more
7/15/2021
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
ITSR ,
Moneygram ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
U.S. Treasury
As we previously wrote in our OFAC 2020 Year in Review, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) saw a drop in enforcement activity in 2020, likely due to the massive year it had in 2019 and...more
2/18/2021
/ Audits ,
Citizenship ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Information Technology ,
Licenses ,
Nexus ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Remediation ,
Sanctions
In too many ways to count, 2020 was an extraordinary year. As we move into 2021 with optimism for an end to the pandemic and better days ahead, we understand that the activity last year of the U.S. Department of the...more
2/16/2021
/ China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Maritime Transport ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Penalties ,
Pentagon ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration