The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week deleted four Venezuela-related entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List, including Didier Casimiro, who was sanctioned in 2020 for being board chair and president of Russian energy company Rosneft (see 2002180033). OFAC also amended the SDN entry for Tabacos USA, sanctioned in January (see 2301260073). OFAC didn’t release more information.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf, the head of the finance office of the Somalia-based affiliate of the Islamic State group. OFAC said Yusuf has played a “key role” in delivering foreign fighters, supplies and ammunition to the Islamic State affiliate, which “serves as a hub for disbursing funds and guidance” to other “branches and networks across the continent.”

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week signed an “agreement” with the Office of Foreign Assets Control to improve coordination among the two agencies’ export control and sanctions enforcement teams, said Matthew Axelrod, the top BIS export enforcement official. The agreement will help in “formalizing our close coordination and partnership,” Axelrod said during a July 26 Society for International Affairs conference, according to a copy of his speech emailed by BIS.

The U.S. this week issued new guidance on its various voluntary self-disclosure policies for sanctions and export control violations, urging companies to disclose offenses and stressing the importance of “robust” compliance programs. The six-page “compliance note,” the second jointly issued by the Commerce, Treasury and Justice departments (see 2303020054), outlines DOJ’s recently updated disclosure policies for criminal export and sanctions violations, the raft of changes made to the Bureau of Industry and Security's administrative enforcement policies over the past year, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s procedures for assessing voluntary disclosures. The notice also describes the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s whistleblower program.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three Malian government and military officials for helping the Russian private military company Wagner Group deploy and expand its operation in Mali. The designations target Sadio Camara, Mali’s defense minister, Alou Boi Diarra, chief of staff of Mali’s Air Force, and Adama Bagayoko, the Malian Air Force deputy chief of staff.

Paul Goldfinch, a sanctioned former board member at Russian financial institution Bank Otkritie, filed suit on July 17 at the District Court for the District of Columbia over the government's failure to render a decision on his delisting petition. The banker, listing the State and Treasury Departments as defendants, said he resigned after Bank Otkritie was listed in February 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but the government has stalled on finding that he has satisfied its delisting requirements (Paul Goldfinch v. Antony J. Blinken, D.D.C. # 23-02045).

The U.S. this week sanctioned more than 100 people, entities and ships supporting Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, including one of its top metals producers and leading construction companies, Kyrgyz Republic firms sending Moscow dual-use technologies, and other businesses helping the government evade international sanctions. The new designations are meant to further restrict Russia’s ability to import military goods and technology, slash revenue from its mining sector, undermine its energy capabilities and “degrade Russia’s access to the international financial system,” the Treasury Department said.

A former senior export control official with the Commerce Department told the House Select Committee on China that he thinks the Entity List is ineffective against China, because countries can change their names, establish partnerships, change locations, and because the Entity List is a "meat cleaver" approach, given that listed parties are subject to very strict licensing requirements.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned North Macedonian businessman Jordan Kamcev for corruption, saying he abused his office and laundered money for more than a decade. Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s terrorism and financial intelligence undersecretary, said Kamcev pursued a “self-serving agenda at the expense of North Macedonia’s democratic institutions and citizens.”

Three Belgian nationals and one Mexican national were sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control this week for their role in international drug trafficking, including cocaine and fentanyl. The designations target Othman El Ballouti, Younes El Ballouti and Youssef Ben Azza, three Belgians involved in an international criminal organization that smuggles “significant quantities” of cocaine in shipping containers through Belgium’s Port of Antwerp. OFAC also sanctioned Mexican Franco Tabarez Martinez, a narcotics trafficker in Guerrero, Mexico, who works with sanctioned La Nueva Familia Michoacana drug-trafficking organization and distributes cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine to the U.S.