OFAC earlier this week announced the issuance of a new general license (General License No. 1) of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR Part 538 (the SSR) authorizing certain educational exchange activities between accredited US institutions and their Sudanese counterparts. This action…
U.S. Sanctions Regulations Blog
Tracking Developments in U.S. and other International Sanctions Regulations
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More and More Sanctions Prosecutions
A review of federal court dockets throughout the United States highlights a general trend – the U.S. Department of Justice is bringing forth numerous criminal cases against individuals and entities which have traded with Iran in vioation of the US…
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OFAC Designates Iranian Magnate and Malaysian Bank
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today added Iranian businessman Babak Morteza Zanjani and a Malaysian bank connected with him to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. Zanjani, a largely UAE-based magnate considered by some to be among the…
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Obama extends Somalia Sanctions
President Obama on Thursday announced that he would be renewing US sanctions against Somalia. This is despite the administration’s decision in January to recognize the Somali government. Read here.
Did Beyonce and Jay-Z’s Cuba Trip Violate OFAC Sanctions?
Monday’s news was full of reports that pop stars Beyonce and husband Jay-Z may have violated US trade sanctions laws by traveling to Cuba last week. Now Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) want to find out,…
Who is Trading with Iran?
An interesting headline just caught my eye – especially after having been in the Middle East less than a month ago. CNBC’s article, quoting a hospitality industry CEO was that “everybody is doing business with Iran.” The CEO heads the Abu…
US and EU Sanctions – Cases of Zimbabwe and Iran
Al Jazeera yesterday carried a report that the European Union intends to lift sanctions on certain individuals affiliated with the Zimbabwean government. This, along with recent news regarding Iranian banks winning lawsuits in the EU General Court over their allegedly wrongful…
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Observations of the Banking Sanctions Landscape from the UAE
I was in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on business last week and spent quite a bit of time trying to determine what is going on there with respect to sanctions on Syria and Iran. Speaking with different people in various…
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HSBC to close certain Iranian, Syrian, and Sudanese Accounts
It was reported in Dubai-based Gulf News today that British banking giant HSBC will be closing many accounts belonging to Iranian, Syrian, or Sudanese nationals. A similar report was featured in the New York times several days ago, detailing how…
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Bank Saderat Ordered off EU Sanctions List, US Sanctions Iranian Broadcaster
Dovetailing last week’s decision by the European General Court that Iran’s Bank Mellat be removed from the European Union’s sanctions list (see last week’s entry on this blog), the court on Tuesday declared that Bank Saderat should similarly be removed.…
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