April - 2019

OFAC issues regulations against foreign interference in U.S. Elections

On 29 April 2019 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued regulations implementing Executive Order 13848. In Executive Order 13848, entitled “Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election” and issued on 12 September 2018, the President declared a national emergency to deal with the threat of “persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States to interfere in or u

U.S. updates the Cuba Restricted List and plans to remove the Title III suspension of the LIBERTAD A

On 24 April 2019 the U.S. Department of State announced an update to the Cuba Restricted List. Five sub-entities owned by the Cuban military have been added. These additions can be seen on the State Department's website, as well as in the Federal Register, and are effective 24 April 2019. The data reflecting these changes are available via PST.AG's data feed notification to our customers. In addition, on 17 April 2019 the U.S. Secretary of State announced the Trump Administra

FinCEN brings first civil money penalty against peer-to-peer virtual currency exchanger for violatin

On 18 April 2019 the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that it has penalized Eric Powers for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Powers failed to register as a money services business although he advertised his intent to purchase and sell bitcoin on the internet. He also had no written policies or procedures for ensuring BSA compliance, including no effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program. In addition, Powers did not report currency transact

OFAC adds Venezuelan and Nicaraguan entities to the SDN list, amends and issues General Licenses

On 17 April 2019 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it has added two new individuals, one Venezuelan and one Nicaraguan, to the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN list). Additionally, OFAC designated 1) the Central Bank of Venezuela (Banco Central de Venezuela) in accordance with Executive Order (E.O.) 13850 (as amended by E.O. 13857) for “operating in the financial sector of the Venezuelan economy” and 2) the

United States Department of State lists Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terror

The United States Department of State has listed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. The designation was published in the Federal Register and became effective on 15 April 2019. According to a media note published by the US Department of State on 8 April 2019, “[t]he IRGC – primarily through its Qods Force – is the primary arm of the Iranian government that

EU agrees to extend Brexit deadline

On 10 April 2019 the European Council (EC) agreed to further extend Brexit until 31 October 2019. The stipulations of this new deadline include that this extension will only last "as long as necessary". Therefore, if the Withdrawal Agreement is agreed upon by the UK and the EU before this date, Brexit will take place on the first day of the following month. Furthermore, if the UK has not agreed on the Withdrawal Agreement by 22 May 2019 and is still a member of the EU at that

Univar USA Inc. pays a $62.5 million customs penalty for circumvention of antidumping duties

On 9 April 2019 the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Univar USA Inc. (Univar) has agreed to pay a $62.5 million customs penalty to the United States. Between 2007 and 2012 Univar, a subsidiary of Illinois-based Univar Inc., imported 36 shipments of saccharin from China via Taiwan. Although this saccharin was manufactured in China, it was transshipped through Taiwan in order to evade a 329 percent antidumping duty on sa

Standard Charter Bank reaches settlement agreement for apparent U.S. sanctions violations

On 9 April 2019 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $639 million agreement with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), a financial institution headquartered in the United Kingdom. Between June 2009 and May 2014 SCB processed over 9,000 transactions to or through the U.S. which violated OFAC sanctions programs, including those against Burma, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. OFAC has determined that SCB did not voluntarily disclose thes

UK updates goods declaration regulations in case of no-deal Brexit

On 3 April 2019 the United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) updated their website entitled “Declaring your goods at customs if the UK leaves the EU without a deal”. This update stipulates requirements for importing vehicles into the UK in the case of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Medical device company settles with SEC and DoJ for FCPA violations

On 29 March 2019 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement with Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA (FMC) for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations. FMC has agreed to pay more that $230 million to the SEC and to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) for numerous violations that include bribery, falsifying documents and insufficient internal accounting controls. FMC, based in Bad Homburg, Germany, is a medical device company that provide