August 15, 2024

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. Subscribe to the email version.

/INDUSTRY EVENTS

ACSS French Chapter

Kharon is proud to host the French Chapter of the Association of Certified Sanction Specialists (ACSS) in Paris on September 26th. The chapter’s meeting will feature presentations from officials from OFAC, the European Commission, and the French government. [Register Here]

/THIS WEEK ON THE KHARON BRIEF

Licenses Reveal Russia had Access to Kaspersky Software Amid US Security Concerns

Amid U.S. concerns about Kaspersky Lab's affiliation with the Russian government, Kharon has found evidence indicating that Russian security agencies had access to the company's software long before the U.S. banned it in June. [Read More]

/MEDIA ROUNDUP

SANCTIONS        

The U.S. Department of the Treasury targeted Belarus’s military support to Russia and the Lukashenka regime, sanctioning 19 individuals, 14 entities, and one aircraft. [U.S. Treasury]

The U.K. sanctioned 4 individuals and 3 entities from Belarus in a coordinated action with international partners, in response to human rights violations and the ongoing facilitation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [U.K. Government]

Canada imposed sanctions on ten individuals and six entities in response to their involvement inhuman rights abuses in Belarus and support for Russia’s war against Ukraine. [Canadian Government]

A Cyprus-based company is being paid millions of Euros by the Belarusian government to facilitate its trade in potash through Russia’s Port of St. Petersburg, in violation of EU sanctions. [OCCRP]

Around 2.3 billion in dollar and euro bills have been shipped to Russia since the U.S. and EU banned the export of their banknotes there in March 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. [Reuters]

A second liquefied natural gas tanker has docked at an export terminal in northern Russia that’s subject to U.S. sanctions, satellite images show. [Bloomberg]

Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman has filed a $16 billion claim against Luxembourg over its decision to freeze his assets after he was placed on the European Union's sanctions list. [Politico]

Some local governments in China have been leading discussions and making plans to begin barter trades with Russia amid media reports that the two countries will start using such goods-for-goods deals to circumvent Western sanctions. [SCMP]

U.S. Congressmen are urging the Biden Administration to impose targeted sanctions on former senior Bangladeshi officials responsible for violence against peaceful student protestors. [U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett]

COMPLIANCE + ENFORCEMENT        

The U.S. Federal Reserve imposed an enforcement action against a Pennsylvania-based bank for "significant deficiencies" around the bank's risk -management and anti- money -laundering practices. [Reuters]

Two Iranian citizens and one Pakistani citizen were indicted for providing material support to Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program. [U.S. Justice]

A U.S.-Iranian national was indicted for crimes related to the procurement of U.S.-manufactured aircraft components, including components used on military aircraft, to Iran in violation of U.S. economic sanctions and other federal laws. [U.S. Justice]

A U.S. national was arrested for participating in a scheme to obtain remote employment with American and British companies for foreign IT workers, who were actually North Korean actors. [U.S. Justice]

A dual Russian and German national was extradited from Cyprus forillegally exporting to Russia sensitive U.S.-sourced microelectronics with military applications in violation of U.S. export controls. [U.S. Justice]

A Bulgarian national was extradited from Greece for his involvement in a scheme to procure sensitive microelectronics from the U.S. and illegally export those components to Russia through Bulgaria without the required licenses from the U.S. government. [U.S. Justice]

The SEC announced charges against a U.S. broker-dealer for failing to file numerous reports of suspicious financial transactions for a period of more than three years. [SEC]

Lithuanian prosecutors have opened over 50 investigations over suspected violations of international sanctions on Russia or Belarus. [LRT]

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland is investigating four individuals linked to Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov, provisionally blocking €1.3 billion. [Swissinfo]

Italian police and customs authorities confirmed they seized a cache of weapons and two drones designed for military use from containers being transported through Italy that were bound for Libya. [Maritime Executive]

TRADE CONTROLS + SUPPLY CHAIN        

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has proposed a new law to restrict a trade provision that lets goods flow in from China with little scrutiny and no duties. [WSJ]

The U.S. Department of Defense has decided to remove a company from its blacklist of Chinese military-affiliated companies after judging that the world’s biggest maker of laser sensors for electric vehicles did not meet the legal criteria for inclusion. [FT]

China’s Huawei Technologies is close to introducing a new chip for artificial intelligence use, overcoming U.S. sanctions to challenge an American multinational corporation and technology company in the Chinese market. [WSJ]

RESEARCH SECURITY?        

The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published new resources for the academic community that align with BIS’s ongoing commitment to support academic institutions in their efforts to comply with export controls. [U.S. BIS]

HUMAN RIGHTS        

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the addition of five entities based in China to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, bringing the total entities listed to 73. [U.S. DHS]

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection will no longer detain shipments of seafood products harvested by a Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel at U.S. ports of entry provided the shipments comply with U.S. law. [U.S. CBP]

CRYPTO + CYBER        

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a report that uses sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of Treasury on Tornado Cash to study the impact and effectiveness of regulation in decentralized systems. [New York Fed]