A Microsoft subsidiary said it received a U.S. sanctions license to provide its services to software developers in Iran. GitHub, which provides hosting for software development, said it was able to convince the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls that use of GitHub “advances human progress,” international communication and improves free speech, the company said Jan. 5. GitHub called the two-year process with OFAC “lengthy and intensive” and said it is “in the process” of rolling back “all restrictions on developers in Iran, and reinstating full access to affected accounts.” The company said it is also working to secure similar licenses for developers in Crimea and Syria. OFAC didn’t comment.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control Jan. 6 issued two new frequently asked questions related to President Donald Trump’s November executive order to ban U.S. investment in Chinese military companies (see 2011130026). In FAQ 863, OFAC said U.S. people can “custody, offer for sale, serve as a transfer agent and trade” in securities covered by the order “to the extent that such support services are not provided to U.S. persons in connection” with certain “prohibited transactions.” Those transactions include “clearing, execution, settlement, custody, transfer agency, back-end services, as well as other such support services,” OFAC said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control Jan. 5 issued two new frequently asked questions and amended two other FAQs to clarify sanctions against Russia under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The FAQs cover OFAC’s non-blocking menu-based sanctions, certain definitions and other sanctions clarifications.

A federal district court judge blocked the Trump administration from enforcing certain sanctions related to the International Criminal Court, saying the sanctions violate free speech rights. The decision, issued Jan. 4 by Judge Katherine Polk Failla in the Southern District of New York, imposes a preliminary injunction on certain sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act outlined in President Donald Trump’s June executive order against the ICC (see 2006110028 and 2009300003).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control accepted a settlement from a French bank of than $8.5 million for apparent violations U.S. sanctions against Syria, OFAC said in a Jan. 4 notice. Union de Banques Arabes et Françaises (UBAF) operated U.S. dollar accounts for Syrian financial institutions and “indirectly conducted USD business” for those accounts on behalf of the institutions through the U.S. financial system, OFAC said. UBAF agreed to remit $8,572,500 to settle its potential civil liability for 127 “apparent violations.”

The Office of Foreign Assets Control Dec. 31 released its annual terrorist assets report for 2019. The report includes an overview of OFAC terrorism sanctions, their impact, enforcement measures and a summary of blocked assets.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control Jan. 4 issued a revised general license that continues to authorize certain transactions (see 1908060048) with Venezuela's “Interim President” Juan Guaido, his staff and others operating under his government. OFAC also amended frequently asked question 679, which outlines the people and entities covered by general license No. 31A.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a California technology company nearly $100,000 for sanctions violations, a Dec. 30 Treasury Department notice said. It said BitGo committed 183 violations of U.S. sanctions programs when it allowed people in Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine's Crimea region to use its “non-custodial secure digital wallet management service.” The company “had reason to know” the people sanctioned countries were using BitGo’s services, OFAC said, but “failed to implement controls” to prevent the violations.

Four companies said they may have violated U.S. sanctions and export controls after providing products to blocked parties or not complying with licensing requirements, according to their Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The potential violations involve illegal exports of software, providing services to people in embargoed countries, and sanctioned airline activities.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Venezuelan judge and prosecutor for presiding over the prosecution of the “Citgo 6,” the six U.S. citizens who were “unjustly imprisoned” in Venezuela in 2017, OFAC said Dec. 30. The designations target Judge Lorena Carolina Cornielles Ruiz and prosecutor Ramon Antonio Torres Espinoza. OFAC said the trials of the six Citgo executives were based on “politically motivated charges and marred by a lack of fair trial guarantees.”