- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Jeff Dale2024-06-21T16:37:00
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Secretary Janet Yellen announced sanctions Thursday against the top leaders of La Nueva Familia Michoacana drug cartel over the illicit trafficking of synthetic opioid fentanyl in the United States.
The sanctions, along with an advisory to financial institutions from the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), are the opening salvo by the Biden administration in response to the recently enacted FEND Off Fentanyl Act.
The FinCEN advisory is for nonbank financial institutions such as casinos, depository institutions, the insurance industry, money services businesses, mortgage companies/brokers, the precious metals/jewelry industry, and securities and futures, the agency said in a press release.
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U.S. and European law enforcement agencies have announced sanctions against two Russia-linked cryptocurrency platforms in their ongoing chase to snuff out Russian-linked financial platforms that assist cybercriminals.
Brian Nelson, Treasury Department under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, warned in a letter that Florida’s “anti-woke” banking bill may “materially undermine” financial institutions’ compliance with federal AML/CFT laws and U.S. sanctions.
A subsidiary of Thailand-based SCG Chemicals Co. agreed to pay a $20 million fine to the Office of Foreign Assets Control over “egregious” violations of sanctions against Iran.
The EU and U.K. have rushed to commit themselves to intensifying action on sanctions evasion after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, but any compliance managers who believe Trump will make global sanctions compliance easier in 2025 are likely to be disappointed.
With a new political regime ready to take over in the U.S., the effectiveness of sanctions against malign foreign actors like Russia, North Korea, and Iran have come into question. While the European Union and U.K. have increased sanctions pressure, critics have publicly asked: Is it enough?
The U.K. has issued 56 new sanctions against entities and individuals involved with Russia’s war effort, including several private mercenary groups operating in Africa that are connected to the Kremlin.
