President Trump signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and issued a new executive order, which collectively put into place a framework for the U.S. government’s policy response to China’s enactment of a new National Security Law concerning Hong Kong. Among other things, these new authorities authorize the
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Executive Order
President Trump Takes Aim at the International Criminal Court with New Sanctions Order
By John B. Reynolds & Will Schisa on
On June 11, 2020, the President issued an Executive Order (the “Order”), “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated with the International Criminal Court,” which authorizes the Secretary of State to impose blocking sanctions on certain persons involved in investigations by the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) of U.S. and allied military…
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Davis Polk Client Memorandum: United States Imposes Blocking Sanctions on the Government of Venezuela
Late on the evening of August 5, 2019, President Trump issued a new Executive order imposing blocking sanctions on the Government of Venezuela (“GoV”). The order builds on prior limited sanctions imposed on the GoV, as well as blocking sanctions imposed on certain GoV agencies and state-owned companies…
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New Economic Sanctions on Iran: More Sound than Fury
On June 24, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“EO” or “Order”) imposing new economic sanctions on the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office. The EO blocks all of the Supreme Leader’s property and interests in property in the United States, that…
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U.S. Government Takes Aim at China With Entity List Additions and New Executive Order
On May 21, 2019, the Department of Commerce published a final rule adding Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd and 68 of its non-U.S. affiliates located in 26 countries (collectively, “Huawei”) to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (“BIS”) Entity List. Commerce had previously announced its intention…
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U.S. Expands Sanctions Targeting Iran’s Metals Sector
On May 8, 2019, the one-year anniversary of his decision to end the United States’ participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) with Iran, President Trump issued a new Executive Order “Imposing Sanctions with Respect to the Iron, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Sectors of Iran” (the…
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OFAC Designates PdVSA
On January 28, 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (“PdVSA”), Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, pursuant to Executive Order (“E.O.”) 13850 for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy, following a determination by the Secretary…
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Russia Sanctions Updates
The past two weeks have seen a number of developments with respect to U.S. sanctions relating to Russia, as the Trump administration has (1) taken additional steps to ameliorate adverse consequences for U.S. persons of the significant sanctions actions targeting Russian oligarchs announced on April 6, 2018; (2) further implemented…
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President Trump Issues Executive Order Re-Imposing Iran Sanctions, Signals Aggressive Enforcement to Come
On August 6, 2018, President Trump issued Executive Order (“E.O.“) 13846, further implementing his May 8, 2018 decision to terminate the United States’ participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran (“JCPOA”). The following day, as certain re-imposed sanctions took effect, the President…
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FSOC 2017 Annual Report—A Subtle Shift in Tone that Signals the Possibility of Meaningful Change
There are distinct, but subtle, shifts in tone in the FSOC’s 2017 Annual Report, especially when compared to previous annual reports and read together with three recent Treasury reports on financial regulatory reform, each of which touches on the role of the FSOC.[1] Taken as a whole, the 2017…
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