- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Adrianne Appel2023-05-22T19:40:00
The United States once again ratcheted up sanctions against Russia in an attempt to further choke off the funds and military supplies the country is using in its war against Ukraine.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of State, in concert with G7 partners and other countries, combined to levy more than 300 sanctions against individuals and entities believed to have assisted Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The restrictions, announced Friday, targeted “those attempting to circumvent or evade sanctions and other economic measures against Russia, the channels Russia uses to acquire critical technology, its future energy extraction capabilities, and Russia’s financial services sector,” said OFAC.
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Analysis of suspicious activity reports by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network indicates nearly $1 billion in suspicious activity in cases of suspected evasion of Russia-related export controls.
Freedom Holding Corp. was accused of “brazen sanctions evasion,” along with openly flouting anti-money laundering and know your customer regulations, as part of an investigative report published by short seller Hindenburg Research.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced expanded sanctions against the Belarusian regime three years after the country’s disputed 2020 presidential election.
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.
