- OFAC Guidance to Industry on Iran’s UAV program: On June 9, Commerce, DOJ, State, and Treasury issued Guidance to Industry on the threat posed by Iran’s procurement, development, and proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), in order to prevent abuse of the U.S. financial system, and disrupt the procurement of foreign-sourced components. Banks should make sure their risk-based BSA and sanctions compliance programs incorporate this alert regarding the threat posed by of Iran’s UAV-related activities, including its supply of UAVs to the Russian military. The alert discusses Iran’s extensive overseas network of procurement agents, front companies, suppliers, and intermediaries Iran uses to obtain UAV components, which can include transshipments through third-party countries. The alert includes red flag indicators that may be associated with prohibited financial transactions, including efforts to evade or violate sanctions and export controls through the use of shell companies, and payments or transactions involving third-party countries or businesses. Read more.
- OFAC to Retire its FTP server (OFACFTP.treas.gov) on June 10, 2024: OFAC issued a notice on June 9 that it intends to retire its public-facing file transfer protocol (FTP) server a year from now. Any banks that currently still rely on OFAC’s public-facing FTP server should ensure that by June 10, 2024, their automation uses the list content hosted on the agency’s website at the URLs listed in OFAC’s notice, rather than relying on the public-facing FTP server. Read more.
OFAC took a number of significant sanctions actions over the last two weeks across multiple programs:
Iran-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Network Supporting Iran’s Missile and Military Programs: OFAC on June 6 sanctioned seven individuals and six entities in Iran, the People’s Republic of China, and Hong Kong for their roles in supporting Iran’s ballistic missile program. The designees conducted financial transactions and facilitated procurement of sensitive and critical parts and technology for key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile development, including Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics and its affiliated organizations, Parchin Chemicals Industries, Aerospace Industries Organization, Iran Electronics Industries, and P.B. Sadr, which is PCI’s key intermediary for the procurement of parts to develop missile propellant. Read more.
- OFAC Designates Tech Company: OFAC on June 2 designated Iran-based technology company, Arvan Cloud, two senior employees of Arvan Cloud, and an affiliated company based in the United Arab Emirates for their roles in facilitating the Iranian regime’s internet censorship in Iran. OFAC’s action is taken pursuant to Executive Order 13846, which authorizes sanctions on persons who engage in censorship or other activities with respect to Iran. In addition, OFAC issued a time-limited general license to allow the wind down of transactions with Arvan Cloud. Read more.
Russia-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Members of Russian Intelligence Targeting Moldova: OFAC on June 5 designated seven senior members of a Russian intelligence-linked malign influence group for their roles in Russia’s destabilization campaign and continued malign influence campaigns in Moldova. OFAC designated Konstantin Prokopyevich Sapozhnikov, Yury Yuryevich Makolov, Gleb Maksimovich Khloponin, Svetlana Andreyevna Boyko, Aleksey Vyacheslavovich Losev, Vasily Viktorovich Gromovikov and Anna Travnikova. A company that is owned by one of the designees—Perko Julleuchter—has also been designated by OFAC. Read more.
Drug-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Senior members of CJNG: OFAC on June 6 designated two senior members of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG)—Alonso Guerrero Covarrubias (a.k.a. “El Ocho”) and Javier Guerrero Covarrubias—for their roles in various criminal activities on behalf of CJNG, including the trafficking of weapons from the United States into Mexico, fuel theft, and drug trafficking activities. Read more.
