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☆ U.S. Poised to Blacklist Chinese Firms Involved in Balloon Program
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ian Talley | Vivian Salama | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Federal Bureau of Investigation team with pieces of a Chinese balloon the U.S. shot down off the coast of South Carolina. WASHINGTON—The U.S. plans as soon as Friday to blacklist about a half-dozen Chinese companies involved in production of surveillance balloons, a person familiar with the matter said, in retaliation for the suspected spy balloon that traversed the U.S. The planned addition of the government-owned defense firms and contractors to the Commerce Department’s roster of blacklisted firms follows pledges by Biden administration officials to further restrict Western technology China could use to advance its military and economic might.

☆ U.S. Poised to Further Tighten Technology Exports to China After Balloon Incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—China risks losing even more access to Western technology after a suspected spy balloon traversed the U.S., as Washington and its allies consider punishing Beijing with stiffer restrictions on products it needs to advance its military and economic might. Current and former security officials say the balloon, which the U.S. said carried antennas and sensors for collecting intelligence and communications, underscores the national security threat posed by China and will build political support for stronger protections of U.S. technology.

☆ U.S. Blacklists Chinese Companies Involved in Balloon Program
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ian Talley | Vivian Salama | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The U.S. blacklisted six Chinese companies Friday that it said were involved in Beijing’s surveillance-balloon program, in a move taken in retaliation for the suspected spy balloon that traversed the U.S. The addition of the government-owned defense firms and contractors to the Commerce Department’s roster of blacklisted firms follows pledges by Biden administration officials to further restrict Western technology China could use to advance its military and economic might.

☆ China Aids Russia’s War in Ukraine, Trade Data Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Ian Talley | Anthony Debarros | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—China is providing technology that Moscow’s military needs to prosecute the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine despite an international cordon of sanctions and export controls, according to a Wall Street Journal review of Russian customs data. The customs records show Chinese state-owned defense companies shipping navigation equipment, jamming technology, and fighter-jet parts to sanctioned Russian government-owned defense companies.

☆ Biden Administration Considers Cutting Off Huawei From U.S. Suppliers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ian Talley | Sabrina Siddiqui | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecom equipment, has said its products aren’t a national-security risk. WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is considering entirely cutting off Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. from U.S. suppliers over national-security concerns by tightening export controls targeting the firm, according to people familiar with the matter. The move—should the administration move forward—would mark the latest salvo in the high-stakes clash between the world’s two largest economies as U.S. policy makers seek to counter China’s industrial policy they say threatens Western interests.

☆ U.S. to Levy Human-Rights Sanctions on Russia, China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Vivian Salama | Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The U.S. is set to levy fresh sanctions against Russia and China on Friday, actions that include targeting Russia’s deployment of Iranian drones in Ukraine, alleged human-rights abuse by both nations and Beijing’s support of alleged illegal fishing in the Pacific, according to officials familiar with the matter. The bulk of the expected sanctions are to be imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, named after a whistleblower who died in a Moscow jail after accusing officials of corruption. The U.S., by using those powers to sanction high-profile government, military and business officials accused of human-rights abuses and corruption, says it aims to hold them accountable and deter others.

☆ U.S. Sanctions Turkish Businessman It Says Brokered Oil Sales for Iran’s Military
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration on Thursday levied sanctions against several Turkish businessmen and more than two dozen Turkish companies that officials said were selling oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s terror-listed military unit. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. PREVIEW Mr. Ayan owns or controls the sanctioned companies, including the Turkish energy conglomerate ASB Group, which launders proceeds from the oil sales into Europe and Asia under an agreement he allegedly reached in 2017 with Iranian officials, the Treasury said. Neither Mr. Ayan, contacted through ASB Group, nor the firm immediately responded to a request for comment. Daniel Roth, a research director for the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, said the Treasury’s action represented a “giant stride” toward thwarting the IRGC’s illicit oil exports.

☆ U.S. Prosecutors Target Russian Assets, but Legal Hurdles Loom
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Western authorities have frozen about $300 billion in reserves of Russia’s central bank, pictured in Moscow. WASHINGTON—Federal prosecutors have issued a stream of subpoenas in recent months in an effort to uncover Russian oligarchs‘ assets hidden in the U.S., laying the groundwork to seize real estate, cash accounts and trust funds, say people familiar with the matter. Many of the subpoenas seek business, bank and trust records they say would help prosecutors cut through layers of complex ownership structures meant to obscure oligarchs’ holdings.

☆ U.S. Presses Allies to Tighten Up Sanctions Enforcement on Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Exports to Russia from Turkey have risen significantly from before sanctions were imposed on Moscow; a container ship on the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul. WASHINGTON—U.S. officials are jetting around the globe in a quiet diplomatic push to get Russia’s major trading partners to enforce sanctions and trade controls, as exports to the country pick up after diving in the weeks following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. and its allies claimed early successes in their international pressure campaign, which disrupted Russia’s military supply chains and pitched its economy into a steep contraction.

☆ Ukrainian Analysis Identifies Western Supply Chain Behind Iran’s Drones
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

New intelligence collected from downed Iranian drones in Ukraine shows that a majority of the aircrafts’ parts are manufactured by companies in the U.S., Europe and other allied nations, stoking concern among Western officials and analysts and prompting a U.S. government investigation, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The documentation of Western parts shows how Tehran has been arming itself and its allies with powerful new weaponry despite being the target of one of the most comprehensive sanction regimes in modern history.

☆ Russia Sanctions Disrupting Putin’s Military Efforts, Treasury Official Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Sanctions on Russia have succeeded in disrupting the country’s military manufacturing industry and are squeezing its economy, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. “We’ve seen how fragile the supply chain is, frankly—we learned this during Covid—for his defensive efforts on the battlefield,” Mr. Nelson said, referring to Mr. Putin. Amid the unprecedented sanctions program against Russia and ongoing pressure campaigns against Iran, Venezuela and other nations, the Treasury has been reviewing more broadly how it uses sanctions. One measure the U.S. Treasury is taking to ensure its program remains potent is by hiring a chief sanctions economist to provide economic analysis around prospective sanctions actions, Mr. Nelson said.

☆ U.S. Penalizes Iranian Group Behind Salman Rushdie Bounty
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Salman Rushdie, pictured in 2019, was stabbed several times before a planned lecture in New York on Aug. 12. WASHINGTON—The Biden administration on Friday levied sanctions against an Iranian foundation that has sponsored a bounty on the writer Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed in August on a stage in New York. Mr. Rushdie, who spent years under police protection after Iranian leaders called for his execution over his 1988 book “The Satanic Verses,” was stabbed several times before a planned lecture in New York’s Chautauqua Institution on Aug. 12. Federal authorities are investigating what motivated the suspected attacker, Hadi Matar, a New Jersey man of Lebanese descent. Mr. Matar’s lawyer in New York, Nathaniel Barone, entered a plea of not guilty last month.

U.S. and European officials are primed to impose fresh sanctions against Iran in the hopes of stanching the flow of military drones to Russia that have been pummeling Kyiv and other civilian population centers and infrastructure. The sanctions would be intended to complement air defense systems the U.S. and its allies are planning to provide to Ukraine to fend off attacks from unmanned aircraft and missiles.

☆ New U.S. National Security Rule Requires Firms to Disclose Key Owners
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the new rule is a major step toward providing authorities the intelligence needed to combat illicit finance. WASHINGTON—Millions of companies in the U.S. will have to disclose their ownership to the federal government under a new anti-money-laundering rule issued by the Biden administration on Thursday. The Treasury Department action is aimed at closing what national security officials had warned for decades was a gaping hole in corporate regulations. By requiring certain companies to identify their primary owners, officials say they aim to penetrate the shield of anonymity that has enabled drug traffickers, terrorists, corrupt officials and other bad actors to keep their illicit activities hidden.

☆ U.S. Allows Iranians Access to Software That Circumvents Internet Restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The U.S. is giving Iranians access to export-controlled technology that will allow them to circumvent the clerical regime’s latest communications crackdown, including a new internet blackout imposed this week. The Treasury Department on Friday responded to Tehran’s restriction of internet access in large parts of the country by issuing a new license that allows U.S. companies to provide Iranians with cyber services that can help them to maintain digital connection to the world.

☆ U.S. Approves Technology to Circumvent Iran Internet Crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BusinessThe Russian steel magnate, who was sanctioned by the U.S., the European Union and the U.K. following the invasion of Ukraine, is exploring options to restructure ownership of his businesses to ease the burden of Western sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter.

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