- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Aaron Nicodemus2024-06-26T14:37:00
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned nearly 50 entities connected with so-called “shadow banking” networks that help Iran’s military evade U.S. sanctions and to sell the country’s oil and petrochemical products.
The entities sanctioned by OFAC include the Sadaf Exchange in Iran and Golden Stars currency exchange company in Türkiye, both owned by Seyyed Mohammad Mosanna’i Najibi, an Iranian-Turkish money-changer also placed on the sanctions list, OFAC said Tuesday in a press release.
Najibi’s companies used 27 “cover companies” based in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and the Marshall Islands to conduct shadow banking activity on behalf of Iran’s military, OFAC said. OFAC has sanctioned all of the companies as well.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT. To continue reading, choose one of the options below.
News and analysis for the well-informed compliance or audit exec. Select an option and click continue.
Annual Membership $499 Value offer
Full price one year membership with auto-renewal.
Membership $599
One-year only, no auto-renewal.
A Minnesota transportation company agreed to pay nearly $258,000 to settle allegations that a subsidiaries violated sanctions against Cuba and Iran more than 80 times, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said.
A subsidiary of MetLife will pay more than $178,000 for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran when it provided insurance policies to entities in the United Arab Emirates owned or controlled by Iran.
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.
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.
