The EU Court of Justice on Sept. 5 said that a notary doesn't violate sanctions on Russia by authenticating the sale of a property owned by a non-sanctioned Russian company. The court said that authentication services don't amount to the provision of "legal advisory services," which are barred under EU sanctions if provided to "legal persons established in Russia."

Switzerland on Sept. 4 indefinitely extended its humanitarian exemption from its sanctions regime on Syria. The exemption was first implemented by the EU in February 2023 on a temporary basis after an earthquake created a "grave humanitarian crisis" in the nation. Under the exemption, sanctions don't apply to "activities that are necessary for the humanitarian work of international organizations and some categories of humanitarian actors," the Swiss Federal Council said. The EU in May renewed the exemption for one year (see 2405280013).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control published a new alert this week detailing Russian attempts to evade sanctions by opening new overseas branches and subsidiaries.

The U.S. this week sanctioned 10 people and two entities involved in Russian government “influence operations,” including state-funded news outlets and their employees.

The U.S. government should make greater use of economic sanctions against the Houthis to weaken the Yemen-based group’s ability to attack international shipping in the Red Sea, a Yemeni think-tank leader recommended Sept. 4.

The U.K. updated the general license under its Russian sanctions regime that authorizes certain imports of Russian diamonds processed in third countries. The license previously only allowed the import of diamonds equal to or larger than one carat that haven't been located in Russia at any time since March 1. The U.K. updated the license to permit the import of diamonds that haven't been located in Russia since Sept. 1 and are smaller than one carat but larger than or equal to one-half carat.

The U.K. added three people and one entity to its Iran sanctions regime Sept. 2, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The individuals are Abdolfatah Ahvazian, Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Hamid Fazeli, and Behnam Shahriyari. IRGC Quds Force Unit 700 was listed for activity meant to "cause the destabilisation of the United Kingdom or any other country," OFSI said.

A financial software company recently disclosed to the Office of Foreign Assets Control that it may have violated U.S. sanctions by allowing its services to be used by customers in restricted countries.

With Russia having recently restarted production of liquefied natural gas at its Western-sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project, compliance officers should prepare for the increased but “manageable” risks that Russian LNG poses, according to a new report released by Blackstone Compliance Services.

The U.S. this week sanctioned Hashomer Yosh and Yitzhak Levi Filant, a non governmental organization and a person, respectively, for contributing to violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Hashomer Yosh has provided “material support” to other U.S.-sanctioned Israeli groups and people in the region, and Filant is the civilian security coordinator of the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank, where he helped lead armed Israeli settlers to attack Palestinians in their lands, the State Department said.