Day: July 1, 2021

A post on the FCPA Blog on 30 June advised that the World Bank had debarred 3 companies from involvement in World Bank in 3 separate, unrelated settlements involving projects in Liberia, Yemen, and Brazil. The debarments involved Liberia-based Crosswords Ltd (debarred for 6 years); the Yemen-based Al-Zubairi Group for General Trading, Contracting, Transportation, and Oil Services (for 6 months); and Brazil-based COBRAPE – Companhia Brasileira de Projetos e Empreendimentos (COBRAPE), a consultancy in the water supply, sanitation, and transportation sectors (for 11 months).  The debarment of Crosswords Ltd also qualifies for debarment under similarly-funded projects involving the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the African Development Bank.

https://fcpablog.com/2021/06/30/world-bank-announces-three-debarments-including-six-year-sanction-for-fraudulent-and-obstructive-practices/

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On 28 June, this report was published by FinCEN, being required under the 2020 Act as an assessment on whether to establish a process for the issuance of no-action letters in response to inquiries concerning the application of AML/CFT laws and regulations to specific conduct, including a request for a statement as to whether FinCEN or any relevant Federal functional regulator intends to take an enforcement action with respect to such conduct.  The concludes that FinCEN should undertake a rulemaking in order to establish a no-action letter process to supplement the existing forms of regulatory guidance and relief that may currently be requested from FinCEN.  It is said that FinCEN believes that a no-action letter process would likely be most effective and workable if it is limited to FinCEN’s exercise of its own enforcement authority, as opposed to also addressing other regulators’ exercise of their distinct enforcement authorities – but would need consultation among FinCEN and other relevant regulators, departments, and agencies, as appropriate.

https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/No-Action%20Letter%20Report%20to%20Congress%20per%20AMLA%20for%20ExecSec%20Clearance%20508.pdf

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On 1 July, the Environmental Investigation Agency published a report which claims to reveal one of the largest violations of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) ever reported.  This involves a tainted supply chain connecting the threatened tropical forests of Oceania to manufacturing hubs in China and to consumers in Europe.  An opaque supply chain enabled this multi-year violation of the EUTR.  The manufacturer of the tropical-faced high risk plywood in this investigation, Jiangsu High Hope Arser Co Ltd is the largest exporter of plywood in China and a state-owned foreign trade enterprise.  It warned that, as of February, Arser’s tropical face plywood might still have been on sale in Europe under such brands as Starplex.  It says that European and Chinese authorities must join forces in order to stop their consumers and industries from driving the plunder of some of the last tropical forests in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands.  EIA says that it uncovered systemic problems of opacity, likely fraud and cover-up in the tropical-faced plywood manufacturing sector in China, and its connections to European markets.

https://content.eia-global.org/assets/2021/06/EIA-LieBehindThePly.pdf

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On 1 July, a Notice from HM Treasury advised that the existing entry relating to Andrei Valeryevich KARTAPOLOV had been amended.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/998288/Notice_Russia_010721.pdf

https://www.gov.im/news/2021/jul/01/financial-sanctions-russia/

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On 17 June, the Department for International Trade published several Notices to Imports –

2951	Syria import sanctions
2950	Somalia import sanctions
2949	Russia and Crimea import sanctions
2948	Libya import sanctions
2946	Iran (nuclear weapons) import sanctions
2945	North Korea import sanctions

They each provide an overview of import prohibitions in force on certain goods originating or consigned from the country involved imported into the UK, including Northern Ireland.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/import-controls

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On 1 July, a Notice from HM Treasury advised that the STATE CONTRACTING WATER AND SEWAGE PROJECTS COMPANY had been removed from sanctions lists. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/998285/Notice_Iraq_010721.pdf

https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sc14570.doc.htm

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https://www.gov.im/news/2021/jul/01/financial-sanctions-iraq/

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