March 9, 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 APPEARANCES

NOW AVAILABLE ON DEMAND

Sign up to have the Kharon Readbook in your inbox every week, click here.

MEDIA ROUNDUP

SANCTIONS        

The European Council announced the imposition of sanctions on nine individuals and three entities for their involvement in serious human rights violations and abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence.?The new listings include?Taliban?ministers,?members of the?Russian?armed forces, commanders of?South Sudanese?militias, officials from?Myanmar, an?Iranian?prison, and the?Syrian?Republican Guard. [European Commission]?

The U.K. Foreign Secretary announced the impostion of sanctions on International Women’s Day targeting gender-based violence in?Iran,?Syria,?South Sudan,?and the?Central African Republic.?[U.K. Government]?

The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned 39 entities constituting a significant?“shadow banking”?network, one of several multi-jurisdictional illicit finance systems which grant sanctioned?Iranian?entities access to the international financial system and obfuscate their trade with foreign customers. [U.S. Treasury]

The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated a China-based network of five companies and one individual for supporting?Iran’s?unmanned UAV procurement efforts.?[U.S. Treasury]

The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned several?Iranian?regime officials and entities, including two senior officials in?Iran’s?prison system who have been responsible for serious human rights abuses against women and girls. [U.S. Treasury]

The U.S. Treasury designated individuals for their involvement in serious?human rights?abuse against the prominent?Russian?opposition leader, author, and historian Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has been a major advocate for the adoption of Magnitsky-style sanctions to target human rights abusers and corrupt actors in Russia. [U.S. Treasury]?

The U.S. has launched a renewed crackdown on countries and individuals helping the Kremlin evade western sanctions amid growing fears?Russia?is fuelling the war in Ukraine by funneling imports through other countries.?[FT]?

Russia?looks to be successfully working around?European Union and Group of Seven?sanctions to secure crucial semiconductors and other technologies for its war in Ukraine, according to a senior European diplomat.?[Bloomberg]

The United Arab Emirates has been taking more cargoes of?Russian?crude oil, according to ship tracking data and trading sources, in another example of how Western sanctions on Russia have adjusted traditional energy trade flows.?[Reuters]?

Executives at Switzerland’s biggest banks say rich?Chinese?clients have become much more worried about parking money in the country because of its tough approach to applying sanctions since?Russia?invaded Ukraine.?[FT]?

Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mother won a European Union court appeal against her inclusion on the bloc’s sanctions list following?Russia’s?invasion of Ukraine.?[Bloomberg]

A close associate of?Russian?oligarch?Roman Abramovich?was given permission by the U.K. Treasury to sell his Surrey mansion for GBP 16 million a month after the government sanctioned him and froze all his assets. [Guardian]

A team of researchers at Dartmouth College says Western governments should focus on sanctioning the lawyers, accountants and bankers who manage?Russian?oligarchs’ offshore wealth to disrupt the finances and alliances of large numbers of the elite in one fell swoop.?[WaPo]

South Africa's?ruling ANC party has brushed aside criticism of a large donation it accepted from a mining company linked to a?Russian?oligarch under U.S. sanctions.?[VOA]

Venezuela?has laid out a work plan to increase crude production with?Russian?oil company Rosneft, the South American country's oil minister said, following a meeting with Rosneft president Igor Sechin. [Reuters]

A new investigation exposed the continuation of the trade of teak from?Myanmar, a precious natural resource whose international market props up the military regime in the South Asian country.?[ICIJ

The U.N.’s acknowledged “failure” in northern?Syria?after last month’s devastating earthquake has highlighted its tangled relations with the Damascus regime, which has included hiring a daughter of Syria’s sanctioned spy chief to work in the office of an aid agency. [FT]

COMPLIANCE + ENFORCEMENT         

A concert cellist linked to Vladimir Putin moved millions of francs through Swiss bank accounts without proper checks, Swiss prosecutors said in a trial of four bankers accused of helping him.?[Reuters]

Two Kansas men were arrested on charges related to a years-long scheme to circumvent U.S. export laws that included the illegal export of aviation-related technology to Russia after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.?[U.S. Justice]?

A new pilot program introduced by the U.S. Department of Justice encourages companies to leverage their compensation policies to reward good behavior by executives while punishing those who are involved in criminal offenses like anti-money-laundering failures.?[WSJ]?

The Biden administration is expanding its cadre of federal agents probing violations of sanctions and export controls against Russia, as the U.S. seeks to shut down holes in the West’s economic pressure campaign.?[WSJ]?

EXPORT CONTROLS + SUPPLY CHAINS        

The U.S. Commerce Department targeted more than two dozen Chinese entities with export restrictions, part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to mitigate what it says is a growing national security threat from China.?[WSJ]?

The Netherlands is preparing restrictions on certain chipmaking machines amid pressure from the U.S. to clamp down on China’s access to critical semiconductor technology.?[Bloomberg]

The German government has launched a review of the country’s 5G high-speed mobile telecommunications networks as part of a broader revamp of its relationship with China, suggesting Berlin is moving closer to banning Chinese suppliers from German networks.?[WSJ]

A U.S. firm’s subsidiary sold electronics to a Chinese defense firm linked to the spy balloon program, highlighting the broader challenge of preventing U.S. technology and know-how from ending up in the hands of China’s military.?[NBC]

A U.S. chipmaker's plans to sell technology to China's Huawei would be thwarted if the U.S. government proceeds with a proposal to further restrict shipments to the blacklisted company, a draft report by a government contractor shows.?[Reuters]

The Biden administration is preparing a new program that could prohibit U.S. investment in certain sectors in China, a new step to guard U.S. technology advantages during a growing competition between the world’s two largest economies.?[WSJ]?

U.S. officials are growing concerned that giant Chinese-made cranes operating at American ports across the country, including at several used by the military, could give Beijing a possible spying tool hiding in plain sight.?[WSJ]?

CRYPTO        

Russia-linked cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato has begun processing withdrawals of digital assets belonging to its customers. The trading platform was shut down in an operation carried out by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Europe alleging that it had been used to launder dirty money.?[Bitcoin.com]?

A bank in Russia has issued the country’s first blockchain-based bank guarantee denominated in Chinese currency.?[Bitcoin.com]??