Insights

On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law the National Security Supplemental fiscal package, which includes significant new sanctions and export controls authorities. Although the U.S. foreign aid commitments for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan headline the new law, it also (1) expands the statute of limitations for U.S. sanctions violations; (2) includes new authorities for the President to coordinate sanctions efforts with the European Union and the United Kingdom; (3) expands sanctions and export controls on Iran (including some targeted at Chinese financial institutions); and (4) includes new sanctions authorities targeting terror groups.

On April 15, 2021, the United States unveiled a sweeping series of additional sanctions on Russia, marking the first major Russia-related sanctions development of the Biden Administration and the most material such U.S. action in several years.  The actions were spearheaded by President Biden’s issuance of Executive Order 14024 (the “EO”) that grants the Department of Treasury a wide-ranging set of new designation authorities, including to designate persons “operating in” the “technology” and “defense and related material” sectors of the Russian economy.  Acting under this authority, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated six Russian entities for operating in the “technology” sector as well as expanding existing restrictions on U.S. financial institutions to now restrict participation in the primary market for certain ruble-, as well as non-ruble-denominated bonds, as well as certain ruble- or non-ruble-denominated lending activities.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently announced settlements with two virtual currency service providers, Bit Pay, Inc. (Bit Pay) and BitGo, Inc. (BitGo), for alleged sanctions violations. Separately, Coinbase Global Inc., (Coinbase) the largest virtual currency exchange in the U.S., has disclosed that its services may have been used in violation of U.S. sanctions, and that the case remains pending under OFAC’s review. The BitGo and Bit Pay settlements involved failures to use Internet Protocol (IP) location data to detect transactions with persons in sanctions jurisdictions (in addition to other alleged failures in the case of BitGo), and build on previous guidance that OFAC has provided to money transmitters (which includes many virtual currency businesses) about its expectation that they will use such services to aid compliance with sanctions. Together, these settlements and investigation suggest a concerted effort by OFAC to remind virtual currency businesses of their OFAC obligations and to encourage broader implementation of appropriate compliance programs.

Crowell & Moring attorneys will examine the myriad of challenges that companies face when balancing efforts to comply with the export regulations of both the United States and China. We will delve into both nations’ export control regulations and provide observations on areas to watch over the next year. Our areas of focus will include:

Crowell & Moring International Trade attorneys will discuss the most prominent developments of the last year and the trends we expect to continue into 2022.