On May 23, 2025, 10 days after President Trump announced his directive to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria during his visit to Saudia Arabia last month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control...more
In the context of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., EU, and U.K. continue to implement new measures to stifle Russia’s war efforts. The Biden administration continued to escalate sanctions...more
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
One of the widest-ranging bills of the U.S. Congress’s legislative year, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), is nearing the finish line as both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the...more
On October 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of State (“State”) broadened, yet again, the scope of sanctions applicable to Russian energy export pipeline projects, most notably the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a nearly finished...more
Hong Kong Updates and Alerts - New Restrictions on Exports to Hong Kong – License Exceptions for Hong Kong Suspended - On June 29, 2020, the State Department announced that the U.S. will end the export of U.S.-origin...more
Earlier this week, on July 15, 2020, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo paved the way for enhanced sanctions on the Russian Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream projects by announcing that the Trump Administration is removing an...more
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
This quarter, the U.S. acted pursuant to statute to punish Russia for its alleged role in the chemical weapons attack on Sergei Skipal and targeted a handful of individuals and entities for certain other malign activities....more
As part of the 18th anniversary of the September 11 attacks earlier this month, the Trump Administration effectively declared the old adage that “one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter” does not apply with...more
SECOND QUARTER 2019 – - US extends sanctions to encompass Iranian metals industries and other targets; Iran announces breach of nuclear accord after EU is unable to offset economic impact of renewed US sanctions. -...more
• On April 8, 2019, the U.S. government announced its intention to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, effective April 15, 2019. This unprecedented action will result...more
Last Wednesday, February 13, a bipartisan group of senators sent Presidents Trump and Putin a Valentine's Eve present by reintroducing a revised Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act, or “DASKA” – a tough...more
Happy new year everyone. The government is shut down, but there has already been a flurry of activity in 2019 on the economic sanctions and embargoes front. Here is a summary of where we stand on various sanctions regimes....more
In this episode, Akin Gump cross-border transactions partner Melissa Schwartz discusses economic sanctions and their impact on transactions, specifically, how businesses minimize the risk they face of sanctions violations. ...more
Russia remained at the forefront this quarter, as the Trump Administration imposed new measures and markets reacted to the threat of additional, “crushing” sanctions from Congress on Russian sovereign debt. Meanwhile, EU...more
ANTICORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS - Petrobras Settles with U.S. Authorities Over Alleged FCPA Violations - On September 27, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)...more
• Economic sanctions and export restrictions extended • Russian investment in United States likely subject to heightened scrutiny • Diligence on Russia transactions and business partners is essential to ensure...more
As previously covered on April 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) invoked authority provided under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”) 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
The past two weeks have entailed a flurry of sanctions developments related to Russia, including the issuance of a new executive order, and the designation of a number of entities by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's...more
On September 20, 2018, President Trump released a 16-page Executive Order which delegated various Presidential powers established under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”) to both the U.S....more
Okay, I have to admit – it is getting hard to keep up with all the changes to the Russia Sanctions Program. The Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Asset Control’s imposition of the Oligarch Sanctions and Congress’...more
The Trump Administration has been active on the sanctions front as a means of asserting U.S. foreign policy and national security interests. Congress has also taken an increasingly active and direct role of late, beyond its...more
This quarter saw the announcement of sweeping new sanctions against Russia’s billionaire class and their corporate holdings, and included the Trump Administration’s first issuance of sanctions against Russia for meddling in...more