The Justice Department is about to undergo some fundamental changes.  The 2nd Trump Administration will take some initial broad strokes designed to increase accountability and control of prosecutors and laws enforcement.  The FBI The first on the chopping block is the FBI.  Under existing law, the FBI is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, presumably under the control and oversight of the Attorney...

The 2nd Trump Administration will mean significant change in foreign policy, most especially the importance of ending the Russia-Ukraine war, increased focus on Iran and its proxies, and aggressive use of trade policies and tools to execute the policy and promote United States businesses. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war and the unprecedented global sanctions and export controls regime, trade enforcement and compliance have...

Each quarter, we send many of our clients a quarterly trade compliance update, highlighting important developments over the last few months and summarizing key points for important sanctions programs. Click here to download the quarterly update for July. Below is a summary of events this past quarter: About the document: This handy one-pager is designed to be used by our clients to provide a quick...

We all know what a “core” sanctions violation looks like.  The heartland of such misconduct has been described on numerous occasions in OFAC enforcement actions and settlements.  In this environment, however, companies have to be aware of conduct that may still violate the law but is not necessarily in the “heartland” of misconduct. DOJ, OFAC and BIS are well aware of the broad reach of...

In this new aggressive era of sanctions and export controls enforcement, companies need to understand the potential risks that DOJ and/or OFAC may identify a company for sanctions investigation. In a global economy, investigators from various countries have built coordination procedures by which they share intelligence and possible leads among each other.  This phenomena has created a complex web of investigators who can identify relevant...

Webinar: Export Controls Compliance — Nuts and Bolts March 19, 2024, 12 Noon EST SIGN UP HERE The Justice Department, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) and the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) have begun an aggressive civil and criminal enforcement program. DOJ’s National Security Division has announced its intention to prosecute criminal export controls cases. From the...

As always, I tend to repeat myself.  However, one important point needs to be repeated — DOJ is in the midst of launching an aggressive sanctions and export control program against corporations and individuals.  DOJ has warned everyone, repeated this message in various speeches and, most importantly, assigned the resources — 25 new federal prosecutors to enforce sanctions and export controls — to back up...