The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Dec. 21 amended the sanctions listing for Yuri Soloviev, former chairman of the management board of VTB Bank. The entry was updated to reflect that his connection to the bank is through former positions held there.
An executive order signed by President Joe Biden last week gives the U.S. broader authority to sanction financial institutions involved in shipments to Russia, marking a “significant step forward” in holding those foreign banks accountable for helping Moscow buy a range of critical items for its military, senior administration officials said.
In a report on how Russia is living up to its World Trade Organization commitments -- a report produced every other year for Congress -- the U.S. trade representative wrote that Russia has expanded import substitution to state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, including a ban on imported equipment.
A new executive order scheduled to be signed by President Joe Biden Dec. 22 will give the U.S. new authority to sanction financial institutions that facilitate transactions for companies sending controlled goods to Russia.
A New York insurance company reached a $466,000 settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control after the U.S. said it provided insurance policies for the blocked company of a sanctioned Russian-Ukrainian oligarch. OFAC said Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, which provides insurance policies for luxury homes, cars and boats, continued collecting insurance payments from the company for more than two years after its owner was added to the agency’s Specially Designated Nationals List.
President Joe Biden on Dec. 22 signed an executive order that expands U.S. sanctions authorities against foreign financial institutions facilitating “significant transitions” involving Russia’s military industrial base. The order authorizes new sanctions against banks facilitating those transactions on behalf of certain already-designated parties and it allows the U.S. to sanction banks facilitating sales of certain “critical items” to Russia, the White House said in a fact sheet.
A Kansas business owner pleaded guilty Dec. 19 for his part in a scheme to violate U.S. export laws by filing false export forms and shipping "sophisticated and controlled" avionics equipment to Russian customers without export licenses, DOJ announced. Cyril Buyanovsky, owner of KanRus Trading Co. also agreed to forfeit over $450,000 worth of avionics equipment along with a $50,000 personal forfeiture. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.
The U.S., the EU and other nations this week condemned North Korea’s Dec. 17 ballistic missile launch and called for U.N. member countries to fully implement sanctions against the country that prohibit it from importing weapons and ammunition.
The oil shipping industry will soon be required to comply with new attestation and record-keeping rules as part of the global price cap on Russian oil, the Treasury Department said in an updated price cap guidance released Dec. 20. The agency also issued new sanctions against a Russian government-controlled ship manager and other traders who frequently transport Russian oil above the price cap.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Dec. 18 amended entries under its Russia and Iran sanctions regimes.