Today the U.S. Commerce Department published an interim final rule to amend the so-called direct product rule of the Export Administration Regulations to target certain transfers of items tied to Huawei and Huawei entities...more
On May 1, 2020, the President issued Executive Order 13920, “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System (“E.O. 13920”),” to authorize restrictions on “bulk-power system electric equipment” if there is a connection to a...more
For the first time, starting on May 1, 2020, parties that submit formal notices to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) with respect to covered foreign investment transactions and covered real...more
I. Background -
Sweden’s financial supervisory authority (“SFSA”) recently fined Swedbank AB a record 4 billion Swedish kronor (approximately $386 million) for deficiencies in its anti-money laundering (“AML”) processes...more
4/19/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Corruption ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Know Your Customers ,
Money Laundering ,
Sweden ,
White Collar Crimes
The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“OFAC”) issued an extensive Fact Sheet on April 16, 2020 regarding the provision of humanitarian assistance and trade to combat COVID-19 in compliance with...more
4/17/2020
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
FEMA ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Humanitarian Assistance ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Medical Supplies ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personal Protective Equipment
On March 4, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Treasury Department (“FinCEN”) assessed a civil monetary penalty of $450,000 against Michael LaFontaine, the former Chief Operational Risk Officer and...more
It has been an active last week in the world of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). In addition to CFIUS’s publication of proposed regulations that would impose filing fees for parties’...more
To further implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”), the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) has issued proposed regulations that would require parties to...more
3/12/2020
/ CFIUS ,
Comment Period ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Filing Fees ,
Filing Requirements ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
A recent federal criminal action shows the depth of the U.S. government’s concern about the use of cryptocurrency (or virtual currency) to violate economic sanctions laws and the lengths to which it will go to charge such...more
1/24/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Exchange ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Geo-Blocking ,
Jurisdiction ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Strict Compliance ,
Strict Liability ,
Virtual Currency
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") issued final regulations on January 13, 2020 to comprehensively implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 ("FIRRMA") (the...more
1/21/2020
/ CFIUS ,
Change of Control ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment ,
Investment Funds ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Security ,
New Regulations ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Principal Place of Business ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sensitive Personal Information
With new Iran-related sanctions, the U.S. government is making good on threats to give third-country companies a choice – participate in the U.S. market or participate in the Iranian market.
...more
1/13/2020
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Blocked Person ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Steel Industry ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (“NDAA 2020”), which includes numerous sanctions-related provisions. The law includes the previously introduced...more
1/2/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Aircraft Equipment ,
Aircraft Sales ,
CAATSA ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Persons ,
Foreign Relations ,
Germany ,
Huawei ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
National Security ,
Natural Gas ,
NDAA ,
North Korea ,
Oil & Gas ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Patriot Act ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Risk Management ,
Russia ,
Strict Compliance ,
Supply Chain ,
Syria ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration ,
Turkey ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
United Nations
On December 13, 2019, the National Security Division (“NSD”) of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released a revised enforcement policy (“the Policy”) meant to encourage companies to voluntarily self-disclose potentially...more
12/23/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Sanction Violations ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On November 27, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) published a proposed rule, “Securing the Information and Communication Technology and Services Supply Chain,” that would implement Executive Order 13873 of...more
12/23/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Factoring Transactions ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
National Security ,
Supply Chain ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department