The U.S. this week sanctioned the Venezuela-based group Tren de Aragua, which it labeled a transnational criminal organization, for its involvement in human smuggling, gender-based violence, money laundering, illegal drug trafficking and other criminal activities, the Treasury Department said. The State Department also is offering up to $12 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of certain Tren de Aragua leaders. The designation comes after Republicans in March urged the Biden administration to sanction the group (see 2403180042 and 2404110054).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions involving the Russian Federation's Central Bank, Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. General License No. 13J which replaced 13I, now authorizes those transactions, including taxes, fees, or import duties, through 12:01 a.m. EDT Oct. 9. The license was set to expire July 11.

Certain vessels targeted by the EU’s sanctions against Russia may use European ports and port services in special emergency scenarios, including to unload “dangerous or polluting goods,” the European Commission said in a recent frequently asked question. Those vessels can use EU ports “within a reasonable time” after being sanctioned, “and in any case not later than 30 days from the date of” their designation, the FAQ said.

The U.K. this week updated guidance for several of its sanctions regimes to provide more information on its “director disqualification sanctions,” which block designated people from being a director of a U.K. company. The country’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said the restrictions also prohibit a designated person from “directly or indirectly taking part in or being concerned in the promotion, formation or management of a company.” The U.K.’s Companies House is responsible for “preventing registration” of a sanctioned person as a director of a U.K. company unless the government issues that person a license. OFSI added the language to its guidance for its Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nicaragua, Global Human Rights, Global anti-corruption, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Guinea-Bissau sanctions regimes.

The U.K. on July 3 issued a general license authorizing certain transactions between sanctioned parties and the National Settlement Depository. The license allows certain designated parties -- except for those subject to Russia-related sanctions -- to "carry out any activity reasonably necessary to sell, divest or transfer" debt and equity securities and financial instruments held by the National Settlement Depository. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said any party conducting a transaction under the license must keep records on those transactions for a minimum of six years. The license runs through Aug. 13.

The State Department is maintaining al-Shabaab's designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the agency said in a notice dated May 2 and published in the Federal Register this week. It said the “circumstances that were the basis for the designation of al-Shabaab” as an FTO “have not changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation of the designation.” The U.S. has for years imposed sanctions on Somalia-based al-Shabaab and people linked to the group, including financial facilitators and weapons smugglers (see 2210170069, 2405230025 and 2305240037).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this month released new guidance to outline how people and companies should submit information, documents and “other materials” to the agency during a sanctions breach investigation, for voluntary disclosure, in response to an OFAC subpoena, and more. The guidance updates the agency’s “former data delivery standards,” OFAC said, and “provides technical and general guidance to persons submitting material to OFAC,” especially for submissions “that may entail voluminous documentation (e.g., more than 100 pages).” The document includes guidance for “organizing document productions,” includes “general conventions for submitting electronic documents,” and provides guidance on submitting data under and over 150 megabytes in total size.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week again renewed a Venezuela-related license that authorizes certain transactions related to exports or reexports of liquefied petroleum gas to Venezuela (see 2107120054 and 2207070032). General License No. 40C, which replaces General License No. 40B, is valid through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 8, 2025. The license was scheduled to expire July 10.

The Financial Action Task Force recently updated its lists of jurisdictions with “deficiencies” in combating terrorism financing, weapons proliferation and other sanctions-related issues, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said last week. The FATF added Monaco and Venezuela to its list of Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring and removed Jamaica and Turkey from the list. The FATF’s list of High-Risk Jurisdictions Subject to a Call for Action remained the same and still lists Iran, North Korea and Myanmar.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control deleted two Russia-related entries from its Specially Designation Nationals List. The agency removed Marina Igorevna Tsareva, who was sanctioned in 2018 for helping to procure underwater equipment and diving systems for Russian government agencies, and Alexey Valeryevich Panferov, who OFAC had sanctioned in 2022 as part of a tranche of designations targeting Russia's defense industrial base. An agency spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about why OFAC removed both from the SDN List.