China last week announced sanctions against two U.S. defense companies for supporting U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The designations, imposed under China's anti-foreign sanctions law (see 2310230032), target General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems by freezing their assets in China and placing travel bans on their senior managers, according to an unofficial translation of an April 11 notice from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 12 removed Bosnia and Herzegovina businessman Slobodan Stankovic and his Republika Srpska-based engineering firm, Integral Inzenjering, from the Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency sanctioned Stankovic in 2022 for ties to corruption (see 2210030015). OFAC didn’t release more information about the delistings, but news reports indicate Stankovic died last year.
The Federal Aviation Administration has made some progress in developing an approach to routinely check Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions data and flag sanctioned people and entities across its aircraft registration and dealer systems, the Government Accountability Office said April 9.
The Biden administration isn't ready to say whether it plans to formally designate Venezuela’s largest criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization, a State Department official said at an April 11 congressional hearing.
The U.S. has no plans to remove sanctions from Iranian technology company ArvanCloud (see 2306020020) after it was delisted by the EU earlier this month, a State Department spokesperson said.
The U.S. extended a national emergency authorizing certain sanctions against Russia, the White House said April 9. The White House said Russian efforts to undermine U.S. democratic elections, to “facilitate malicious cyber-enabled activities," to influence foreign governments, and more continue to threaten U.S. national security. The emergency was renewed for one year beyond April 15.
Sanctions compliance professionals should familiarize themselves with several advisories authorities recently issued to help spot “dark fleet” vessels that seek to evade the price cap on Russian oil sales or oil sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, experts said April 4 during a webinar hosted by the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Dubai-based Oceanlink Maritime DMCC, along with 13 of its ships, for helping to transport Iranian commodities for the country’s military. OFAC said Oceanlink has used its vessels to generate revenue for Iran, including through the Hecate, a vessel the company used to load more than $100 million worth of Iranian commodities through a ship-to-ship transfer from another sanctioned tanker, the Dover.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 2 removed sanctions from VTB Bank Europe, the European subsidiary of Russian state-owned VTB Bank.
A U.S. government official didn’t say for sure whether the Treasury Department will allow a general license involving Venezuela’s state-owned energy company to expire next month, but suggested companies should expect it to lapse if the Venezuelan government doesn’t soon reverse its crackdown on political opposition members.