The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Venezuela-related general license to extend the current authorization for certain transactions with the country’s state-owned energy company. General License No. 8N, which replaces No. 8M (see 2311160051), authorizes certain transactions between Petroleos de Venezuela and Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International, with certain restrictions, through 12:01 a.m. EST Nov. 15. The license was scheduled to expire May 16.
The U.K. High Court of Justice on May 3 said funds are subject to sanctions when a party can prove that the funds are being "in fact controlled" by a sanctioned party, not when there's "only reasonable cause to suspect" they are controlled by a sanctioned party, according to the Global Sanctions blog.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control alerted users of its new Sanctions List Service (see 2405060043) that it made a correction to the “namespace information in the SDN.XML and CONSOLIDATED.XML files.” The notice includes information on how the namespace was changed.
Maurel & Prom received a specific license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control that authorizes certain activities involving Venezuela’s state-owned energy company Petroleos de Venezuela, the Paris-headquartered oil company announced May 6.
The U.S., the U.K. and Australia this week sanctioned Russian national Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, a leader of the Russia-based LockBit ransomware group, which the Office of Foreign Assets Control labeled “one of the most active ransomware groups in the world.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week launched its new Sanctions List Service, an application the agency will use to issue sanctions list files and data to the public. OFAC said the SLS “provides users with easy access to the most up-to-date Sanctions Lists and Sanctions list data,” including from the Specially Designated Nationals List or the Consolidated non-SDNs List, “ready for immediate download.” Users also can search for sanctions entries on the SDN Lists and other lists maintained by OFAC.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week removed the Swiss branch of Russia-headquartered bank Sberbank from the agency’s Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List, which lists entities operating in certain sanctioned sectors of the Russian economy. OFAC didn’t release more information.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 3 removed several Russia-related entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List, including Malta- and Russia-based aircraft management company Emperor Aviation Ltd., which was designated in 2022 for providing luxury travel to a Russian government official (see 2211140018). OFAC also removed several aircraft owned by Emperor Aviation from the SDN List.
The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation last week sanctioned four people and two entities linked to violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The U.N. Security Council on May 2 reminded members that Congo's military forces are exempt from a U.N. embargo on the supply of military equipment and assistance. The council said “banks, shipowners, carriers, financial institutions, and firms operating in the military field are reminded, through their respective Member States, that there are no restrictions to working with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the provision of military equipment, arms, and related materiel, or any provision of assistance, advice or training related to military activities to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a timely manner.”