The Financial Action Task Force recently updated its lists of jurisdictions with “deficiencies” in combating terrorism financing, weapons proliferation and other sanctions-related issues, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said last week. The FATF added Monaco and Venezuela to its list of Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring and removed Jamaica and Turkey from the list. The FATF’s list of High-Risk Jurisdictions Subject to a Call for Action remained the same and still lists Iran, North Korea and Myanmar.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added six entities to the Entity List for either helping to train China’s military, evading U.S. government end-use checks or shipping export-controlled items to Russia. The agency also updated its Unverified List, adding 13 new parties and removing eight others, including one Russian company that it transferred to the Entity List earlier this year. Both rules took effect July 3.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will add six entities to the Entity List and update its Unverified List to include 13 new parties and remove eight others, the agency said in a pair of rules released July 2 and effective July 3.

Senior U.S. sanctions and export control officials recently warned a group of American CEOs to do more due diligence on their semiconductor shipments, telling them Chinese suppliers are frequently sending their products to Russia.

The U.K. on June 26 renewed a general license authorizing certain humanitarian activity involving Syria and Turkey. The license, which allows the U.N., its programs and other entities specialized in humanitarian relief to provide relief to people in Syria and Turkey in response to the February 2023 earthquake, was extended through Feb. 14, 2025. The license was first issued in 2023 (see 2302160013) and was scheduled to expire Aug. 14 after being renewed in February (see 2402070010).

Russia has been able to sustain its war effort against Ukraine because of its ability to evade Western export controls on key military parts and semiconductors, said Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow with the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She said Russia is importing large amounts of controlled items from China and continuing to indirectly buy from Eastern European nations like Turkey through transshipment tactics and shell companies.

The EU this week unveiled its 14th sanctions package against Russia for its war on Ukraine, including new due diligence rules for companies with counterparties that may be selling to Russia. The package also includes new measures to prevent sanctions evasion, new import and export controls, a set of servicing restrictions on certain Russian energy shipments, designations of more than 100 people and entities, and more.

The Bureau of Industry and Security issued two temporary denial orders last week as part of the Biden administration's latest package of Russia-related sanctions and export controls (see 2406120036), targeting companies and people in the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, Turkey and Indonesia for sending export controlled items to Russia.

The U.S. government is sanctioning four people with links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), including members of an ISIS-linked human smuggling network, the State and Treasury departments announced last week.

The Bureau of Industry and Security imposed a $285,000 civil penalty on Sapphire Havacilik San Ltd. to resolve allegations that the Turkey-based company flew a U.S.-origin Gulfstream aircraft on private charter flights into Russia without a required BIS reexport license, the agency announced June 13. The flights occurred in October 2023 and January 2024 and were arranged by Russian nationals.