The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week fined Colorado-based Newmont Corp. and Florida-based Chisu International Corp. after the two mining companies bought Cuban-origin “explosives and explosive accessories” from a third-party vendor. The agency announced a $141,442 settlement with Newmont and a $45,908 settlement with Chisu for violating the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is seeking comments on an information collection related to the agency’s Application for the Release of Blocked Funds. The application, which is available electronically on OFAC’s website, “provides a standardized method of application” for industry and eliminates the “need for applicants to write lengthy letters to OFAC,” the agency said. Comments are due June 21.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is seeking public comments on an information collection related to the provision of travel and courier services to Cuba. Comments are due June 21.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 20 issued guidance for holders of credit cards issued by sanctioned Russian financial institutions. The agency said U.S. operators of credit card systems are blocked from processing transactions involving certain sanctioned foreign financial institutions unless exempt by OFAC. Foreign operators of credit card systems whose payment cards are issued by sanctioned banks also risk violating U.S. sanctions if they allow those cards to be used in the U.S., OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 20 sanctioned more than 40 people and entities -- including Russian commercial bank Transkapitalbank -- for operating a sanctions evasion network. The agency also issued two new general licenses authorizing certain transactions with the bank and sanctioned a range of companies for operating in Russia’s virtual currency mining industry.
UserTesting, a California-based software company, said it may have violated U.S. sanctions by allowing users in Iran to access its platform, the company said in an April 4 SEC filing. The company said it conducted an internal review of its sanctions and export control compliance in “mid-2021” and discovered that Iranian “parties” signed up for a free trial of its platform but “did not make payment to us.” UserTesting also said it found a “limited number of participant accounts that represented themselves as residing in non-embargoed countries but may have accessed our platform from embargoed countries.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued Russia-related General License 27, which allows certain transactions by nongovernmental organizations involving Russia. The license authorizes activities in support of humanitarian projects, democracy building initiatives, education, non-commercial development projects and environmental and natural resource protection in both Russia and Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated the sanctions entry for Lazarus Group, a North Korean cybercrime group designated in 2019 (see 1909130039). The agency didn’t release additional information.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 11 sanctioned seven people and four entities for their involvement with the Kinahan Organized Crime Group, which operates in Ireland and "is established" in the U.K., Spain and the United Arab Emirates, OFAC said. "The Kinahan Organized Crime Group smuggles deadly narcotics, including cocaine, to Europe, and is a threat to the entire licit economy through its role in international money laundering," Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said. The action was the "result of close collaboration" between U.S. officials, Ireland’s national police force, the U.K.'s National Crime Agency and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control April 12 issued Russia-related General License 26, allowing a wind-down period with Sberbank subsidiaries Joint Stock Company SB Sberbank Kazakhstan and Sberbank Europe AG. Certain transactions are authorized through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 12.