October 5, 2023

The Readbook is Kharon's weekly roundup of our published pieces, upcoming events, and the best-curated news feed on the intersection of international security and global commerce.

UPCOMING EVENTS

This year, the U.S. Government has issued multiple Tri-Seal Guidance Notes focused on compliance with sanctions, export controls, and national security laws. In this webinar, with experts from Perkins Coie, we will dive into U.S. guidance on countering Russian evasion and on voluntary self-disclosures of potential violations. [Register]

Kharon and Resilinc experts will delve into the complexities of supply chain risk and compliance while exploring strategies to build more resilient supply chains. [Register]

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MEDIA ROUNDUP

SANCTIONS        

The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated 28 individuals and entities involved with the international proliferation of illicit drugs, including a China-based network responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl and more. [U.S. Treasury]

Switzerland's Federal Council adopted further sanctions in connection with the supply of Iranian drones to Russia. This aligns Switzerland with the EU, which has adopted new measures in response to the use of Iranian drones in Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. [Switzerland SECO]

The EU added 11 FAQs on the prohibition on imports of iron and steel products processed in third countries which incorporate inputs from Russia. [EU Sanctions]

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, sanctioned over his alleged links to Vladimir Putin, has asked a court to render Australia’s sanctions regime invalid. [Guardian]

The Netherlands’ largest shipbuilder is suing the Dutch government for losses inflicted on its business by sanctions against Russia, a rare instance of a European company taking its grievances to court over the corporate fallout from the invasion of Ukraine. [Bloomberg]

Japan's move to bar most used car sales to Russia slammed the brakes on a trade nearing USD 2 billion annually that had boomed in the shadow of sanctions over Ukraine elsewhere. [Reuters]

EU ambassadors agreed on a framework of sanctions that will be used to target key actors in Sudan's war and impose asset freezes and travel bans, sources familiar with the matter said. [Reuters]

COMPLIANCE + ENFORCEMENT        

The U.S.'s FinCEN assessed a USD 15 million civil money penalty against a New York-based bank for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. [U.S. FinCEN]

Companies that disclose misconduct committed by businesses they are buying will not face charges under a new enforcement policy from the U.S. Department of Justice that seeks to tackle “a new era” of national security threats arising from corporate malfeasance. [FT]

A U.S.-based telecommunications consultant pleaded guilty to violating sanctions on Iran by providing software upgrades to telecommunications equipment in Iran. [U.S. Justice]

The president of a global steel products trader pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to commit money laundering to promote violations of U.S. sanctions by conducting transactions to acquire over USD 150 million in metal products from companies owned by a sanctioned oligarch. [U.S. Justice]

Singapore may subject luxury assets, including cars, watches, and handbags, to anti-money laundering controls and increase scrutiny of single family offices as the Asian financial hub reels from an USD 2bn money-laundering scandal. [FT]

Swiss prosecutors have charged Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan's former president, with running an international crime syndicate that laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes. [BBC]

EXPORT CONTROLS + SUPPLY CHAIN        

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s BIS announced new best practice guidance for industry to help prevent items that are considered the most significant to Russian weaponry requirements from being diverted for use in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. [BIS]

The EU has revealed the first four critical technologies in its cross hairs - including advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and biotech - as it looks to de-risk relations with China. [SCMP]

The Biden administration warned Beijing of its plans to update rules that curb shipments of AI chips and chipmaking tools to China as soon as early October, a U.S. official said, a policy decision aimed at stabilizing relations between the superpowers. [Reuters]

Taiwan will investigate whether Taiwanese firms helping Huawei with chipmaking plants in China violated U.S. sanctions, ramping up scrutiny of a company at the heart of Washington-Beijing tensions over technology. [Bloomberg]

HUMAN RIGHTS + FORCED LABOR        

Influential U.S. lawmakers want the National Basketball Association and its players’ union to cut ties with Chinese gear makers allegedly linked to forced labor in the country’s Xinjiang region. [WSJ]