The Treasury Department’s new “dangerous” humanitarian-related general licenses for Afghanistan lack oversight and could empower the Taliban, said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. McCaul said the licenses are “broad sanctions carveouts” that could “reward, legitimize and enable the same Taliban that took power by force and has shown no interest in abiding by international norms.”
The Treasury Department amended the Weapons of Mass Destruction Trade Control Regulations with several technical changes, the agency said in a Federal Register notice. The changes, effective Dec. 27, removed appendix 1 from the regulations, which lists people who contribute to foreign countries’ efforts to develop and stockpile weapons of mass destruction. OFAC also amended certain definitions to reflect the removal of appendix I and made other “technical edits.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined TD Bank about $115,000 for two separate instances of sanctions violations, the agency said Dec. 23. The bank illegally processed nearly 1,500 transactions that violated U.S. sanctions against North Korea and maintained two accounts for more than four years for a U.S. resident who was sanctioned under Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations. OFAC said both cases resulted from “multiple sanctions compliance breakdowns,” including human errors and screening deficiencies.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 22 sanctioned three people and two entities for operating a Brazil-based support network for al-Qaida. The designations target Haytham Ahmad Shukri Ahmad Al-Maghrabi, Mohamed Sherif Mohamed Mohamed Awadd, Ahmad Al-Khatib and two companies: Home Elegance Comercio de Moveis Eireli and Enterprise Comercio de Moveis e Intermediacao de Negocios Eireli.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published a new fact sheet, three new general licenses and other guidance to help humanitarian aid flow more easily to Afghanistan. The six-page guidance describes the various general licenses available for transactions involving Afghanistan, which now cover certain U.S. government activities, transactions involving international organizations and other humanitarian work. The guidance comes after months of banks and non-governmental organizations asking OFAC to provide more assurances that they won’t be caught by sanctions (see 2109020064).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 21 removed one person listed under two entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency deleted the entry for Rodrick Grech, also known as Roderick Grech, a Malta national who was originally sanctioned in 2018 for ties to illegal fuel smuggling between Libya and Europe. OFAC didn’t release more information.
The State Department on Dec. 20 identified five additional Chinese officials under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act that are contributing to the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy from Beijing. All five officials -- Chen Dong, Lu Xinning, Tan Tieniu, He Jing and Yin Zonghua -- were previously sanctioned by the Treasury Department in July (see 2107160030). Treasury updated their entries on the Specially Designated Nationals List to reflect the State Department's determination. Under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, the State Department and the Treasury Department must prepare a report to Congress within 60 days that identifies any foreign banks that knowingly conduct “a significant transaction” with any of the five newly added officials. It also requires the U.S. to impose certain additional sanctions on the officials.
New U.S. and European sanctions against Belarus could have broad implications for companies doing business in the region and could signal more multilateral sanctions in the coming months, law firms said this month. The U.S.’s recent restrictions are particularly noteworthy because of a strict new prohibition on certain transactions involving Belarusian sovereign debt, the firms said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Ali Darassa, the leader of a militia group in the Central African Republic, for human rights violations, the agency said Dec. 17. Darassa is the leader of the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic, whose militants have killed and displaced thousands of people in the region since 2014, the agency said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added eight Chinese technology firms to its investment blacklist, including drone maker DJI, for helping the Chinese government track and detain Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. The move, announced Dec. 16, also banned investments in Cloudwalk Technology Co., Dawning Information Industry Co., Leon Technology Company, Megvii Technology, Netposa Technologies, Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co. and Yitu, all of which are already on the Commerce Department’s Entity List.