The Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 11 designated seven people connected to Hezbollah and its financial firm Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH). The sanctions target Ibrahim Ali Daher, the chief of Hezbollah’s Central Finance Unit, and AQAH officials Ahmad Mohamad Yazbeck, Abbas Hassan Gharib, Wahid Mahmud Subayti, Mostafa Habib Harb, Ezzat Youssef Akar and Hasan Chehadeh Othman.
In two separate decisions, the European Union General Court dismissed two applications from listed individuals urging the court to annul the acts maintaining their designations on the EU's sanctions list. In an April 28 order, according to an unofficial translation, the court rejected a bid from Syrian businessman Ammar Sharif to depart from the sanctions list because he had failed to rebut the notion that he is no longer an “influential businessman” conducting business in Syria. Sharif did not present sufficient evidence to dispute the European Council's assessment on three of his business activities in Syria, leading to the court's decision.
The U.S. extended national emergencies authorizing sanctions against Iraq, the Central African Republic and Syria, the White House said May 6. The White House said actions in all three countries continue to “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy.
Following the Department of Justice's first resolution of action under a new export control tool, greater efforts should be made to conduct export-related due diligence and act on those recommendations, according to a May 6 analysis from Sidley Austin. Merely conducting audits of exports and sanctions is not good enough anymore, Sidley said. Implementing audit recommendations and putting in place a robust process to receive, investigate and elevate whistleblower complaints should be a priority following the DOJ's settlement with German software company SAP SE.
The U.S. could rejoin the Iranian nuclear deal (see 2104220008) as early as this summer, a senior State Department official said, but much of the timing will depend on Iran. The official said both countries have had “constructive” talks in recent meetings but said Iran is being unrealistic about the number of sanctions it wants the U.S. to lift.
The United Nations Security Council on April 29 revised two entries on its Libya sanctions list. The changes revised identifying information for the entries.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated two listings on its Libya sanctions regime in an April 30 financial sanctions notice. Information was updated for Abd Al-Rahman Al-Milad and Mohammed Muammar Qadhafi, and both entries are still subject to an asset freeze.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control moved its Non-Specially Designated Nationals Communist Chinese Military Companies (NS-CCMC) List from a temporary PDF to a “standard OFAC list file format,” the agency said April 30. The list data will now be included in the agency’s “Non-SDN Consolidated Data Files” for machine processing, and “human-readable versions” will be available on a dedicated landing page. OFAC stressed that the change is “only an administrative, technical action.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 30 deleted five entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List. The entries were listed with addresses in Iraq. OFAC didn’t immediately provide more information.
The United Kingdom published guidance April 29 ro assist individuals and businesses with complying with the Myanmar sanctions regime. The document includes best practice for complying with the asset freeze and travel ban, enforcing the prohibitions and circumstances in which the sanctions don't apply.