As we approach year’s end, and the pace of legislative activity ramps up, it remains critical to keep a close eye on the sanctions-related bills currently making their way, at varying speeds, through the U.S. legislative...more
11/9/2021
/ China ,
Corruption ,
Forced Labor ,
Foreign Policy ,
Iran ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
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 October 18, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) released its 2021 Sanctions Review (“Sanctions Review” or the “Review”), which includes recommendations for preserving the effectiveness of sanctions...more
Amid a rise in U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)—including an increase in criminal cases and staff dedicated to FARA investigations—last month the FARA Unit released...more
In a keynote address at the Global Investigations Review Connect: New York conference on October 5, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General John Carlin provided insights into future Department of Justice (“DOJ” or the...more
10/15/2021
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DPA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
ITAR ,
Military Service Members ,
National Security ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Sanctions ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ,
US Department of State ,
Virtual Currency
In the latest turn of events in the seemingly never-ending political saga of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the U.S. House of Representatives (the “House”), via an amendment to the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act...more
10/7/2021
/ CAATSA ,
Foreign Entities ,
Germany ,
Joe Biden ,
National Interest Waiver ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
US State Departments
In the Biden Administration’s latest effort to respond to the growing threat of ransomware attacks, on September 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) announced new sanctions and ransomware guidance in an...more
As close observers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or “Committee”) are aware, the Committee has the authority to recommend that the President of the United States block a transaction on...more
This alert considers the recent updates and guidance published by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) regarding the UK’s National Security and Investment Act 2021 (the “Act”).
These...more
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
On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued a new executive order (E.O.), “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People’s Republic of China” (E.O. 14032). The E.O. prohibits U.S....more
Last week’s release of advisory opinions related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) – the first such opinions from the new Chief of the Department of Justice’s FARA Unit (the “Unit”) – signal that the Unit will...more
5/28/2021
/ Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Domestic Policy ,
Entity List ,
Exemptions ,
Foreign Agents ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Governments ,
Material Dissemination ,
Promotional Items ,
Public Relations ,
U.S. Commerce Department
In late April 2021, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules that require on-air programming sponsored or furnished by a foreign government to contain a disclosure statement noting the foreign government...more
The legal and political skirmishing continued on both sides of the Atlantic in recent weeks over Nord Stream 2, the nearly finished Russian natural gas pipeline that continues to serve as a flash point within Europe and...more
On April 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts (collectively, “DOJ”) announced that DOJ entered into a precedent-setting...more
On April 8, 2021, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), and the Committee’s ranking member, Jim Risch (R-Idaho), introduced the Strategic Competition Act of 2021 (the “Act”...more
On April 15, 2021, following discussions just days earlier of a potential summit between President Biden and Russian President Putin and as Russian troops amassed along the Ukrainian border, the Biden Administration issued...more
4/20/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Blocked Person ,
CBW Act ,
Cybersecurity ,
Defense Sector ,
Espionage ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Interference in US Elections ,
Foreign Policy ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
SolarWinds ,
Sovereign Debt ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Technology Contracts ,
Technology Sector ,
Ukraine ,
Vladimir Putin
On March 22, 2021, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) interim final rule to implement provisions of Executive Order 13873 on Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) Supply Chain became...more
4/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Electronic Communications ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Imports ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Internet ,
Market-Sharing ,
NDAA ,
Networks ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Software ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On March 12, 2021, a U.S. district court granted a temporary injunction requested by the Hong Kong-listed, Chinese electronics giant, Xiaomi Corporation (“Xiaomi”). The injunction blocks the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”)...more
3/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Hong Kong ,
Injunctions ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
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
On February 11, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14014 of February 10, 2021, “Blocking Property With Respect to the Situation in Burma” (“E.O. 14014”), the first sanctions-related E.O. of his new administration,...more