The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is amending the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations by adding recent Venezuela-related executive orders, a recent general license and an “interpretive provision,” OFAC said in a Nov. 22 notice. OFAC is adding a general license “previously posted only on OFAC’s website” that authorizes certain U.S. government activities in Venezuela. The interpretive provision, which involves settlement agreements and enforcements of liens, judgments or “other orders through” the “judicial process,” clarified that the “entry into a settlement agreement … is prohibited unless authorized pursuant to a specific license issued by OFAC.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent penalty against a U.S. company’s sanctions and anti-corruption violations may be an indication of the SEC’s intent to begin penalizing sanctions violators, according to a Nov. 18 post by Squire Patton Boggs. The penalty marked a “rare foray” by the SEC into sanctions enforcement, the post said, and may signal its aim to explore new ways of policing companies.

The U.S. is continuing sanctions on Burundi, the White House said in a Nov. 19 notice. The situation in Burundi -- marked by “violence” and “political repression” -- continues to “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, the White House said. The sanctions are being renewed for one year from Nov. 22. The national emergency with regard to Burundi was originally declared Nov. 22, 2015.

The U.S. is ending a sanctions waiver for an Iranian nuclear site and plans to sanction certain Iraqi officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Nov. 18. Pompeo said the U.S. will be ending the waiver for the Fordow nuclear facility on Dec. 15. The waiver, which allows certain activities related to the nuclear plant, will be terminated due to Iran beginning uranium enrichment activities at the plant, Pompeo said. “The right amount of uranium enrichment for the world’s largest state sponsor of terror is zero,” he said. “The United States rejects this approach completely and calls on all nations to do the same.”

A Virginia-based information technology company may have violated U.S. sanctions in 2017, the company said in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended on Sept. 30. The company, DXC Technology, said it voluntarily disclosed possible violations to the Office of Foreign Assets Control stemming from “insurance premium data and claims data” processed by two partially owned joint ventures of Xchanging, a London technology company that DXC acquired in 2017. DXC also sent a copy of the disclosure to the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The company said it is “finalizing its internal investigation” of the violations and plans to give OFAC more information in early 2020.

A South American airline may have violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba, the airline said in an October filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Avianca Holdings said it recently became subject to U.S. sanctions regulations when its parent company, Synergy Aerospace Corp., conducted a 2018 share-transfer with a Delaware-based company “wholly-owned” by Synergy, the filings said. Soon after the transfer, Avianca said it discovered its “regularly scheduled” flights between Central and South America and Cuba were subject to U.S. laws and may have violated the U.S. Cuban Assets Control Regulations.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four people and five entities related to financial, procurement and recruitment networks for ISIS, Treasury said in a Nov. 18 press release. The people and entities are located in Turkey and Afghanistan. The sanctioned parties include Sahloul Money Exchange Company, Al-Sultan Money Transfer Company, Tawasul Company, Ismail Bayaltun, Ahmet Bayaltun, ACL Ithalat Ihracat, Nejaat Social Welfare Organization, Sayed Habib Ahmad Khan and Rohullah Wakil.

The State Department added five sub-entities to the Cuba Restricted List, according to a Nov. 19 notice. The entities include: Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas Beach Resort and Spa, Gran Muthu Imperial Hotel, Gran Muthu Rainbow Hotel, Gran Hotel Bristol Kempinski and the Grand Aston Varadero Resort. The move blocks all direct financial transactions with the entities because they would “disproportionately benefit” Cuba’s military and security services, the State Department said in a press release.

The State Department sanctioned Julio Cesar Gandarilla Bermejo, Cuba’s minister of the interior, for human rights violations in Venezuela, the agency said in a Nov. 16 press release. State also sanctioned Bermejo’s children, Julio Cesar Gandarilla Sarmiento and Alejandro Gandarilla Sarmiento.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its Iran sanctions to correct identifying information for Mehr Bank, OFSI said Nov. 18. Mehr Bank is still subject to sanctions.