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Grant Leach

Grant focuses his practice on international trade, international compliance, securities, mergers, acquisitions and general corporate matters.

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On May 15, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced two new rules changes directed at Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (“Huawei”).  As we have previously covered, BIS has named Huawei and 114 of its affiliate companies to its Entity List under the U.S. Export Administration…

The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) recently announced the removal of General License 13E (“GL 13E”), authorizing certain activities involving Nynas AB, a Swedish manufacturer of specialty oils owned in part by PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company.  The notice issued by OFAC states that Nynas AB “has undertaken a corporate…

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has recently issued two new General Licenses to extend pre-existing authorizations for transactions with GAZ Group that would otherwise be prohibited under OFAC’s Ukraine- and Russia-related sanctions. General License 15H (“GL 15H”) authorizes certain activities necessary to maintenance or wind down of operations or existing contracts…

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced the issuance of yet another extension of the temporary general license (TGL) allowing companies to continue business with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and its 114 subsidiary and affiliate companies that are currently named on BIS’s Entity List.  The TGL was scheduled to expire…

On Thursday, January 23, 2020, the U.S. Department of State – Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) and U.S. Commerce Department – Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published new coordinated final rules which will take effect on Monday, March 9, 2020.  On that date, the DDTC rule will remove specifically identified firearms, ammunition, accessories…

In a January 10th Executive Order, President Trump expanded sanctions on Iran after a ballistic missile attack on two American military bases in Iraq.  Executive Order 13902 expands secondary sanctions on Iran to include “significant” or “material” support transactions between non-U.S. persons and Iran’s construction, mining, manufacturing, and textiles sectors as potentially sanctionable…

As we discussed in a recent client alert, the U.S. Department of Commerce recently issued a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) which intends to give the U.S. Secretary of Commerce the authority to block, unwind or modify information and communications technology or services (“ICTS”) transactions involving “foreign adversaries” if the Commerce Secretary determines that such transactions threaten U.S. critical infrastructure, the U.S. digital economy or U.S. national security. There were many aspects of the Proposed Rule which were unclear, but the U.S. Department of Commerce indicated its willingness to consider comments from the public which were received on or before Friday, December 27, 2019.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced on Monday, November 18, 2019 the issuance of a new 90-day extension which will allow U.S. companies to continue doing business with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (“Huawei”) under the Temporary General License (“TGL”). BIS did not make any changes to the TGL other…

On October 14, 2019, President Trump announced via Twitter his intention to authorize sanctions against Turkey and “any persons contributing to Turkey’s destabilizing actions in northeast Syria.” The announcement followed Turkey’s recent military operation against predominately Kurdish forces in northern Syria, which began following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region. Later in the day, President Trump issued an Executive Order (the “Syria-Turkey EO”) to formally implement those sanctions. Under the Syria-Turkey EO:

  • The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is now authorized to impose blocking sanctions on any person that it determines to be: (i) responsible for or complicit in actions that threaten Syrian stability or abuse human rights, (ii) an official or agency of the Government of Turkey, or (iii) operating in sectors of the Turkish economy that the Secretary of Treasury might later decide to target with sanctions. The Syria-Turkey EO also authorizes the Treasury Secretary to impose blocking sanctions on any person (including non-U.S. persons) who provides material assistance, goods or services to or in support of any person sanctioned under the Syria-Turkey EO.
  • The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to restrict or prohibit foreign financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent or payable through accounts in the U.S. if the Treasury Department determines that those foreign financial institutions have knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant financial transaction for or on behalf of any person who becomes subject to the above-described blocking sanctions.
  • The U.S. Secretary of State is now authorized to impose menu-based sanctions on any person the Secretary determines to have interfered with peacekeeping and restorative efforts in northern Syria. These authorized menu-based sanctions include (but are not limited to): blocking sanctions, denial of U.S. entry visas and financing-based sanctions.

On October 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that it would add twenty eight (28) Chinese entities consisting of companies, government offices, and security bureaus to the Entity List for engaging in or enabling activities contrary to U.S. foreign policy interests.  Similar to the actions taken against…