On 9 August 2023, President Biden issued Executive Order 14105, targeting certain US investments into Chinese companies or Chinese-owned companies engaged in three advanced technology areas. The Executive Order directs the US Department of the Treasury to issue regulations that will (1) prohibit certain categories of US outbound investments and (2) require notification of other investments involving the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Macau
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled BIS Issues Best Practices for License Applications for Medical-related Items for Russia, Belarus, and Occupied/Covered Regions of Ukraine on 19 July 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On 1 June 2023, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added four entities to the Specialty Designated Nationals List under Executive Order 14098 and issued four general licenses authorizing certain transactions involving Sudan.
On 11 May 2023, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) issued a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ), which calls into question the use of “springing rights,” a broadly used instrument to expedite financings while complying with mandatory filing requirements. The FAQ addresses the timing for when a filing must be made for a transaction triggering a mandatory filing. Since implementation of the mandatory filing requirements, transaction parties have used springing or deferred rights to allow financings to proceed while those rights triggering a CFIUS filing are deferred or held in abeyance until after CFIUS clearance.
On 18 April 2023, Matthew S. Axelrod, the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), issued a memorandum titled “Clarifying Our Policy Regarding Voluntary Self-Disclosures and Disclosures Concerning Others” to clarify and announce BIS’ policies concerning voluntary self-disclosures of Export Administration Regulations (EAR) violations and disclosures of possible EAR violations committed by third parties.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC Issues Russian Petroleum-related Determinations, Updates Guidance on Implementation of the Price Cap Policy, and Amends Related General Licenses on 17 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the US Department of State, the US Department of Commerce, and the US Department of Energy issued rules adjusting maximum civil monetary penalties under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC Designates Major Russian Financial Institutions and Issues New and Amended Russia-Related General Licenses; New FAQs on 20 December 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC Issues Russian Crude Oil-related Determination, Guidance on Implementation of the Price Cap Policy for Russian Crude Oil, and Russia-related General Licenses on 2 December 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On 20 October 2022, the US Treasury Department released the first Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States Enforcement and Penalty Guidelines. The Guidelines provide visibility into factors CFIUS considers when assessing violations of CFIUS laws and regulations, and determining potential penalties. The Guidelines are applied by the Monitoring and Enforcement office, which is part of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Investment Security.