The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, among other allies, have moved swiftly in response to the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine. Merely hours after Russia’s announcement on February 21, 2022, that...more
The European Union Blocking Statute was originally adopted in 1996 to counteract US sanctions on Cuba, Iran and Libya, but following a memorandum of understanding entered into between the EU and the US, it has seldom been...more
On October 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued detailed guidance to the virtual currency industry, putting virtual currency companies on notice of the ways OFAC...more
Sanctions -
The Biden administration has made clear that economic sanctions will continue to be an important U.S. foreign policy tool and has initiated a comprehensive review of current sanctions policies and practices....more
In the wake of China’s new national security law for Hong Kong that went into effect on June 30, 2020, the Trump administration has taken several steps to significantly pare back Hong Kong’s preferential status under U.S....more
7/20/2020
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Persons ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA) ,
Human Rights ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Preferential Trade Status ,
Revocation ,
Risk Assessment ,
Rollbacks ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Trade Policies
Addressing the Evolving Risks -
Warren Buffett said that “only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” Buffett was not talking about compliance programs in a time of crisis, but his wisdom applies...more
5/2/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Fraud ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Market Manipulation ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sanction Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In light of Turkey’s military intervention in northeast Syria, President Donald Trump issued, on October 14, 2019, Executive Order 13894 (EO 13894), “Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to...more
10/21/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
General Licenses ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Steel Industry ,
Syria ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
Turkey
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including a review of the first year of GDPR enforcement, analysis of...more
10/3/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Appeals ,
Blocking Statutes ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
China ,
CLOUD Act ,
Communication Restrictions ,
Compliance ,
Conspiracies ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act 2019 (the COPO Act) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disclosure ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EURIBOR ,
Exports ,
Extradition ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Records ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
France ,
Fraud ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hackers ,
Hungary ,
Imports ,
India ,
Indictments ,
Information Sharing ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Israel ,
Lithuania ,
Money Laundering ,
Morrison v National Australia Bank ,
Multinationals ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Opioid ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Rate-Rigging ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Spoofing ,
Subpoenas ,
Swiss Supreme Court ,
Switzerland ,
Tax Crimes ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Treaty ,
Turkey ,
UK ,
United States ,
Venezuela ,
Wal-Mart
In 2018, the United States continued to expand its sanctions programs and increase enforcement. While President Donald Trump’s decision to re-impose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran has perhaps drawn the most attention, key...more
1/23/2019
/ Blocked Entities ,
Blocked Person ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cuba ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nicaragua ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela ,
Withdrawal
On November 5, 2018, the United States reimposed all remaining nuclear-related sanctions against Iran that it had previously lifted in connection with its implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in...more
11/13/2018
/ Cross-Border Transactions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITSR ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
Winding Down ,
Withdrawal
On November 1, 2018, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13850 (E.O. 13850), which broadly targets corrupt practices in Venezuela and builds on several recent rounds of U.S. sanctions against the Venezuelan...more
11/9/2018
/ Corruption ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Engineering ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Officials ,
Mining ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
On August 27, 2018, the U.S. Department of State implemented the first tranche of new sanctions on Russia under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act (the CBW Act). The enactment of these...more
9/10/2018
/ Arms Export Control Act ,
Aviation Industry ,
CBW Act ,
Chemical Warfare ,
Dual Use Goods ,
Economic Sanctions ,
End-Users ,
Exports ,
Foreign Assistance Programs ,
Licensing Rules ,
National Security ,
Russia ,
State Funding ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Subsidiaries ,
Technology ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Department of State
The U.S. government recently took several actions involving the Venezuela- and Russia-related sanctions. On May 21, 2018, following the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump issued an executive order...more
On May 8, 2018, President Donald Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing from its participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement the P5+1 (the United States, China, France,...more
5/15/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
General Licenses ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
New Guidance ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Rescission ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
Winding Down
On May 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General Licenses 12B and 13A authorizing additional transactions and activities involving certain persons subject to the...more
On April 23, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Ukraine- and Russia-related General Licenses 12A and 14, and additional guidance to further minimize immediate...more
On April 6, 2018, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, 12 companies owned or controlled by these oligarchs, 17 senior Russian government...more
4/13/2018
/ Blocked Person ,
CAATSA ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Ukraine
In recent weeks, the U.S. government has taken a number of significant steps to implement sanctions on Russia under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which President Donald Trump signed into...more
11/9/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
CAATSA ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Exploration ,
Energy Sector ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Section 232 ,
Trump Administration ,
Ukraine ,
US State Departments
Pursuant to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA), the president is required to make certifications every 90 days that Iran is complying with its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action...more
10/24/2017
/ Decertify ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
P5+1 Nations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Trump Administration
On October 6, 2017, President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of State announced the revocation of economic sanctions on Sudan, following the temporary lifting of sanctions on January 17, 2017. The announcement concluded...more
On September 21, 2017, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order (E.O.) 13810, which broadly expanded U.S. sanctions against North Korea. E.O. 13810 targets, among others, individuals and entities that are part of certain...more
On August 25, 2017, the U.S. government dramatically increased sanctions on the government of Venezuela. Unlike the Venezuela-related sanctions already in effect, which are list-based and to date have targeted only specific...more
8/31/2017
/ Blocked Person ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
Citgo ,
Debt-Equity ,
Dividends ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Securities Transactions ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
On August 2, 2017, President Donald Trump signed into law the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (the Act), which significantly expands U.S. sanctions against Russia while enacting modest new sanctions on...more
8/7/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Terrorism Financing ,
Arms Embargo ,
Congressional Override ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Cyber Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
North Korea ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Privatization ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
SSI List ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Syria ,
Trump Administration
As previously reported, the Policing and Crime Act 2017 (the Act) introduced a series of major changes to the U.K. financial sanctions regime. The changes, which came into force on April 1, 2017, included the creation of new...more
On March 7, 2017, the United States announced that China’s Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. and their respective affiliates (collectively, ZTE) had agreed to a record...more
3/10/2017
/ Attorney General ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITAR ,
National Security ,
North Korea ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Plea Agreements ,
Sanction Violations ,
Settlement ,
Software ,
Telecommunications