On May 23, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Syria General License (GL) 25 to provide immediate sanctions relief for Syria in line with President Trump’s May 13, 2025...more
On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14032 (Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People’s Republic of China) (“CMIC EO”) that modifies the Trump-era...more
Key Points
- On February 11, 2021, in the first deployment of sanctions since assuming office, President Biden issued EO 14014, authorizing sanctions against members of the Burmese military and related parties responsible...more
Key Points
- On November 12, 2020, President Trump issued a new EO prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in transactions in publicly traded securities of certain CCMCs, or any securities that are derivative of, or are...more
1/4/2021
/ China ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Derivatives ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Instruments ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
SDN List ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
• On October 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed the two Turkish government ministries and three ministers that it added to its Specially Designated Nationals and...more
10/25/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Syria ,
Trump Administration ,
Turkey
• A new Executive Order signed October 14, 2019, authorizes U.S. sanctions related to the military conflict between Turkey and Syria, providing broad authority to impose sanctions against Turkish government agencies,...more
• In a further escalation of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela in support of its efforts to oust the regime of Nicolás Maduro, on August 5, 2019, the Trump administration imposed comprehensive sanctions on the Government of...more
8/19/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Blocked Entities ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
• The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have imposed three new sanctions on Russia:
o Effective August 26, 2019, U.S. banks (as defined below) are...more
8/14/2019
/ Biological-Weapons ,
CBW Act ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sovereign Debt ,
Trump Administration
• On January 28, 2019, OFAC added the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company PdVSA to its SDN List.
• As a result, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with PdVSA and entities that...more
2/6/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
Debt-Equity ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
SDN List ,
Securities Transactions ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
• On November 27, 2018, the Trump administration issued an executive order establishing a new sanctions regime against Nicaragua.
• This occurs as the Trump Administration has articulated an approach to Latin America in...more
• On September 20, 2018, for the first time, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on a non-U.S. entity and its director for engaging in “significant transactions” with a Russian defense sector company included on the...more
9/26/2018
/ Blocked Person ,
CAATSA ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Intelligence Services ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Suppliers ,
Trump Administration
• On August 6, 2018, following President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the JCPOA, the U.S. government announced the reimposition of sanctions on Iran’s automotive sector, its trade in gold and precious...more
8/17/2018
/ Blocking Statutes ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
International Relations ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Winding Down ,
Withdrawal
• On May 21, 2018, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on the Government of Venezuela in response to the reelection of President Maduro and the “deepening humanitarian and public health crisis” fueled by the Maduro...more
• On April 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed seven prominent Russian businessmen, 12 companies, 17 senior Russian government officials, and a state-owned Russian...more
4/9/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
Blocked Person ,
CAATSA ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Licenses ,
Government Officials ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
• The next significant Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)-related deadline for the Trump administration is January 29, 2018, when it must submit reports to Congress on “oligarchs and parastatal...more
1/22/2018
/ Arctic Drilling ,
CAATSA ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
National Security ,
New Guidance ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Shale Gas ,
Trump Administration
• Effective October 13, 2017, President Trump declined to provide certification that the JCPOA is in the United States’ national interest. Following this “decertification,” the U.S. Congress has 60 days in which to introduce...more
11/2/2017
/ Anti-Terrorism Financing ,
Decertify ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Iran ,
Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Legislative Amendments ,
Members of Congress ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
SDN List ,
Sunset Provisions ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
Based on certain State Department findings, effective October 12, 2017, long-standing U.S. sanctions on the Republic of Sudan administered by OFAC under the Sudan Sanctions Regulations will be terminated, and U.S. persons...more
10/13/2017
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Commerce Control List ,
Commodities ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Secretary of State ,
Sudan ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Trump Administration ,
TSRA
On September 29, 2017, OFAC modified Directives 1 and 2 of Executive Order 13662 to reduce the permissible maturity for new debt issued by Russian financial and energy entities designated under these directives, as well as...more
10/5/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Cybersecurity ,
Debt ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Presidential Directives ,
Russia ,
Trump Administration ,
Ukraine
On September 21, 2017, the White House announced additional sanctions against North Korea, following a new round of sanctions imposed by the United Nations on September 11 and an escalation of U.S. sanctions previously...more
9/26/2017
/ Aircraft ,
Anti-Terrorism Financing ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Fund Transfers ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Secretary of State ,
Secretary of the Treasury ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Trump Administration ,
Vessels
On August 25, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) imposing economic sanctions related to Venezuela. The new measures prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in certain debt-, equity-, and securities-related...more
8/31/2017
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Blocked Person ,
Bonds ,
Citgo ,
Debt-Equity ,
Dividends ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
General Licenses ,
Medical Devices ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Patented Medicines ,
SDN List ,
Securities Transactions ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
On August 2, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (Pub. Law. No. 115-44, H.R. 3364) (the “Act”), which significantly expands economic sanctions against...more
8/9/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Terrorism Financing ,
Arms Embargo ,
Congressional Override ,
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 ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Trump Administration
On July 31, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the addition of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to its list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons...more
8/7/2017
/ Asset Freeze ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Government Officials ,
Obama Administration ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Venezuela
Key Points -
- The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has added 25 new entities and individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals List, including some located in China, Lebanon,...more
Key Points -
- This action marks the first time sanctions have been imposed under the Cybersecurity Sanctions Program established on April 1, 2015, with the designation of nine entities and individuals.
-...more
1/5/2017
/ Barack Obama ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
FBI ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Commerce Department
If you read one thing…
- On October 7, 2016, President Obama issued an Executive Order that effectively eliminates sanctions against Myanmar (referred to as Burma by the White House) and removes the sanctions...more