On April 28, 2020, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry Security (“BIS”) published three separate rules which, in response to the Administration’s conclusion that “civil-military integration” in China is increasing, impose significant additional restrictions on the export of dual-use items to strategic rivals including China, Russia, and Venezuela.  These rules, when implemented, will have an especially acute effect on transactions with China.  Specifically, consistent with the Administration’s conclusion that these countries present national security and other foreign policy concerns, BIS restricted exports, re-exports, and in-country transfers to these destinations by: 1) issuing a final rule expanding end-use and end-user restrictions related to China by expanding the scope of prohibitions to include “military end-users” in China and expanding the definition of “military end use”,  among other changes; 2) issuing a final rule removing a license exception that allows the export of some items to certain countries that present national security concerns, including China and Russia, provided that the end-use was civilian (license exception CIV); and 3) issuing a proposed rule narrowing the scope of a license exception that allows the re-export of some items that present national security concerns (license exception APR).

These changes, which are largely effective on June 29, 2020, will create additional hurdles in transactions with China, Russia, and Venezuela. 
Continue Reading Bureau of Industry and Security Imposes Significant Additional Restrictions on Exports to China, Russia, and Venezuela

On April 22, 2020, President Trump ordered Chevron to “wind down” its business in Venezuela by December 1, 2020. This will have a significant impact on companies that supply Chevron with equipment used for oil and gas projects in Venezuela that were previously licensed.

Effective April 21, 2020, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign

Elliott Abrams, the U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela, announced a plan to lift sanctions on Venezuela should the Maduro regime step aside to permit a transitional government to be elected until full elections can take place in late 2020.[1]   If there is transition of power, individual sanctions on dozens of Venezuelan government officials could

Today, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Rosneft Trading S.A., a Switzerland-based subsidiary of Russian state-controlled global energy company Rosneft Oil, and its president and board executive Didier Casimiro.  Specifically, OFAC designated the company as a specially designated national (SDN) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850

The President signed a new Executive Order today making it unlawful to engage in transactions involving digital currency issued by the Venezuelan government.  The Executive Order makes official prior guidance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which stated that dealings related to Venezuelan digital currency would likely be prohibited under existing sanctions.

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Today the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took the unusual step of blacklisting the leader of a foreign country as a Specially Designated National (SDN).  OFAC added Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela, to the SDN List after a flawed vote that essentially replaced the country’s democratically elected legislature with a new body