People and companies that tried to meet their sanctions reporting requirements to the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation last week may have experienced issues due to the technology outage faced by businesses around the world July 19, OFSI said in a notice. The outage, caused by an issue with Microsoft's third-party information technology vendor CrowdStrike, "may be impacting upon firms’ ability to fulfill their reporting obligations to OFSI, or meet other deadlines to supply us with information," the agency said. If a reporting company missed a deadline because of the outage, they should "include the reason for the delay in your e-mail to us. OFSI will take this into account when assessing the submission."
The EU this month updated its set of best practices to help member states better implement sanctions. The 42-page guidance, issued by the Council of the European Union, outlines how new designations should be applied, how governments should approach delisting, the roles of companies and other “economic operators,” areas and procedures for coordinating sanctions with other agencies and countries, and more.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned more people and vessels across Asia and the Middle East for their roles in aiding the Yemen-based Houthis through illegal shipping and financing networks. OFAC said the designations specifically target people with ties to Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal see (see 2406170026, 2312280012, 2401120015 and 2403260016).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is updating its license application process and portal to alert applicants where their application is in the agency’s “processing timeline,” OFAC said July 18. After submitting an application, the applicant will now start receiving one of 10 “case statuses” as their application is reviewed:
The U.S. this week sanctioned the Mexico-based Abdul Karim Conteh Human Smuggling Organization and four people associated with the group for helping to smuggle “noncitizens” into the U.S. The Treasury Department said Sierra Leonean national Abdul Karim Conteh and his wife, Mexican national Veronica Roblero Pivaral, help lead the group, while Togolese national Pasaman Francis Marin Abbe Pidoukou and Sierra Leonean national Issa Kamara help transport migrants. Brian Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the move “disrupts the ability of those seeking to exploit and endanger desperate individuals in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones.”
When Bloomberg asked former President Donald Trump if he has thought about easing or eliminating sanctions on Russia as part of a peace settlement in Ukraine if he is reelected, the Republican nominee replied, "Yeah. So what we’re doing with sanctions is we’re forcing everyone away from us. So I don’t love sanctions. I found them very useful with Iran, but I didn’t even need sanctions with Iran so much. I told China that and Russia is in a similar position."
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued new guidance July 16 to clarify how its Russia-related sanctions apply to certain business services, including operating or managing a trust.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week updated an entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List for Aviad Shlomo Sarid, a leader of the group Tzav 9, an Israeli extremist group that the U.S. sanctioned in June for blocking aid to Gaza (see 2407110018 and 2406170030). The update revises identifying information for Sarid.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three accountants and four companies linked to a timeshare fraud led by the Mexico-based Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion. OFAC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the FBI also issued a joint alert urging financial institutions to submit suspicious activity reports to FinCEN about transactions that may be tied to timeshare fraud in Mexico, along with several red flags to monitor.
The Council of the European Union this week renewed until July 27, 2025, its sanctions on Iranian parties for supporting Russia's war in Ukraine. The restrictions apply to 12 people and nine entities, and were imposed on parties that supply unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles to the Russian military.