February Sanctions News

Continuing our monthly Sanctions news series, we bring you significant developments in February. Our service empowers Compliance Officers and Chief Compliance Officers to keep up with Sanctions landscape changes at the designation level and, most importantly, to understand the intentions and objectives behind such measures. Keeping up with the latest developments can bring long-term benefits to an organization.

In February, noteworthy events globally impacted sanctions compliance. We summarize all the relevant circumstances and provide links to primary sources for more in-depth research so you can stay ahead and mitigate risks to your business operations.

In February, we have seen the following events:

01 February

• The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States (US) imposed asset-freezing sanctions on four Israeli settlers for their involvement in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. (Source)

• The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) of the United Kingdom (UK) imposed asset-freezing sanctions against four entities under its Myanmar sanctions regime. (Source) 

• The Australian Government imposed additional targeted sanctions on five entities with direct links to the Myanmar military regime. (Source)

02 February

The European Union (EU) Council imposed asset-freezing sanctions against five individuals for their involvement in undermining democracy in Guatemala. (Source)

06 February

Canada sanctioned individuals affiliated with Hamas in response to terrorist attacks against Israel. (Source)

07 February

The OFAC imposed asset-freezing sanctions against one individual and one entity for their involvement in drug trafficking and gang-related violence in Ecuador. Also, they made a deletion to OFAC’s SDN list. (Source)

20 February

The United States (US) sanctions affiliates of groups responsible for ransomware attacks on the U.S. financial sector. (Source)

26 February

The US Department of Commerce added entities to the Entity List for Supporting Online Censorship and Surveillance to Target Political Actors and Human Rights Activists and for the Diversion of U.S. (Source)

28 February

The OFAC issued designations and delisting for the Counter Narcotics sanctions regime related to Guatemala’s Drug Trafficking Organizations. (Source)

Stay informed and ahead of the curve in the dynamic world of sanctions. 

As a Compliance Officer or Chief Compliance Officer, understanding the latest sanction developments is vital to mitigating the risk of non-compliance in your organization.

Take advantage of our monthly update articles, which summarize the most noteworthy events in sanctions and link to primary sources for further research. 

Contact us at info@pst.ag for more information.