On September 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued an updated advisory on potential sanctions risks for companies that facilitate ransomware payments in response to cyberattacks, guidance on preventative measures companies can implement to mitigate such risks, and criteria that OFAC will consider as mitigating factors in any potential enforcement action. OFAC also announced that it has added SUEX OTC, S.R.O. (“SUEX”), a Russian virtual currency exchange, to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (the “SDN List”), as a result of its role in facilitating ransomware payments. This represents OFAC’s first-ever designation of a virtual currency exchange.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this alert.

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Caroline Brown Caroline Brown

Caroline E. Brown is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement and International Trade groups and the steering committee of the firm’s National Security Practice. She provides strategic advice to…

Caroline E. Brown is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement and International Trade groups and the steering committee of the firm’s National Security Practice. She provides strategic advice to clients on national security matters, including anti-money laundering (AML) and economic sanctions compliance and enforcement challenges, investigations, and cross border transactions, including review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector (Team Telecom).

Caroline brings over a decade of experience as a national security attorney at the U.S. Departments of Justice and the Treasury. At the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, she worked on counterespionage, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism matters and investigations, and gained unique insight into issues surrounding data privacy and cybersecurity. In that role, she also sat on both CFIUS and Team Telecom and made recommendations to DOJ senior leadership regarding whether to mitigate, block, or allow transactions under review by those interagency committees. She also negotiated, drafted, and reviewed mitigation agreements, monitored companies’ compliance with those agreements, and coordinated and supervised investigations of breaches of those agreements.

Read more about Caroline Brown
Show more Show less
Photo of Laura Foggan Laura Foggan

Laura Foggan is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, and chair of the firm’s Insurance/Reinsurance Group. She has been described by LawDragon 500 Magazine as “one of the most successful advocates for the insurance industry to ever practice.” Laura was…

Laura Foggan is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, and chair of the firm’s Insurance/Reinsurance Group. She has been described by LawDragon 500 Magazine as “one of the most successful advocates for the insurance industry to ever practice.” Laura was recently recognized as a Global Elite Thought Leader for Insurance & Reinsurance by Who’s Who Legal (2019), who praised her as a “dynamic and creative thinker” who has “very high standards and delivers superior work.” She is a Chambers-ranked Band 1 practitioner and included in the Best Lawyers in America directory, and consistently named one of Washington D.C.’s “Top 100 Lawyers” and “Top 50 Women Lawyers” and a “Super Lawyer” for Insurance Coverage by Super Lawyers Magazine. Laura represents clients in a variety of litigation and counseling matters.

Read more about Laura Foggan
Show more Show less
Photo of Carlton Greene Carlton Greene

Carlton Greene is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s International Trade and White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement groups. He provides strategic advice to clients on U.S. economic sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering…

Carlton Greene is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s International Trade and White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement groups. He provides strategic advice to clients on U.S. economic sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering (AML) laws and regulations, export controls, and anti-corruption/anti-bribery laws and regulations. Carlton is the former chief counsel at FinCEN (the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network), the U.S. AML regulator responsible for administering the Bank Secrecy Act.

Read more about Carlton Greene
Show more Show less
Photo of Jeffrey L. Poston Jeffrey L. Poston

Jeff Poston is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, where he serves as co-chair of the firm’s Chambers USA-ranked Privacy & Cybersecurity Group and is a member of the Litigation Group. A seasoned trial lawyer with more than 25 years…

Jeff Poston is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, where he serves as co-chair of the firm’s Chambers USA-ranked Privacy & Cybersecurity Group and is a member of the Litigation Group. A seasoned trial lawyer with more than 25 years of experience leading investigations and litigation for corporate clients, Jeff counsels and defends clients in complex data protection matters involving class-actions and regulatory enforcement actions, as well as commercial disputes. Jeff also counsels businesses on both domestic and international privacy compliance matters, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Read more about Jeffrey L. Poston
Show more Show less
Photo of Dj Wolff Dj Wolff

David (Dj) Wolff is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a director with C&M International, the firm’s trade policy affiliate.

At Crowell & Moring, he serves on the steering committee for the International Trade Group, where his practice focuses

…

David (Dj) Wolff is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a director with C&M International, the firm’s trade policy affiliate.

At Crowell & Moring, he serves on the steering committee for the International Trade Group, where his practice focuses on all aspects of compliance with U.S. economic sanctions, including day-to-day compliance guidance, developing compliance programs, responding to government inquiries, conducting internal investigations, and representation during civil and criminal enforcement proceedings. Dj works regularly with non-U.S. clients, both in Europe and Asia, to evaluate the jurisdictional reach of U.S. sanction authorities to their global operations, identify and manage the potential conflict of laws that can result from that reach, as well as to support client’s design, implementation, and evaluation of a corresponding risk-based sanctions compliance program. Dj also regularly leads teams in diligence efforts on trade and related regulatory areas on behalf of his U.S. and non-U.S. clients in the M&A arena, having successfully closed more than 30 deals with an aggregate valuation of several billion dollars over the last 18 months.

Dj is ranked by Chambers USA in International Trade: Export Controls & Economic Sanctions. He has previously been recognized by Law360 as a Rising Star in International Trade (2020), by The National Law Journal as a “DC Rising Star” (2019), by Who’s Who Legal: Investigations as a “Future Leader” (2018 and 2019), Acritas Star as an Acritas Stars Independently Rated Lawyers (2019), by Global Investigations Review as one of the “40 under 40” in Investigations internationally (2017), and WorldECR as one of the five finalists for the WorldECR Young Practitioner of the Year award (2016).

Read more about Dj Wolff
Show more Show less
Photo of Evan D. Wolff Evan D. Wolff

Evan D. Wolff is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, where he is co-chair of the firm’s Chambers USA-ranked Privacy & Cybersecurity Group and a member of the Government Contracts Group. Evan has a national reputation for his deep technical…

Evan D. Wolff is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, where he is co-chair of the firm’s Chambers USA-ranked Privacy & Cybersecurity Group and a member of the Government Contracts Group. Evan has a national reputation for his deep technical background and understanding of complex cybersecurity legal and policy issues. Calling upon his experiences as a scientist, program manager, and lawyer, Evan takes an innovative approach to developing blended legal, technical, and governance mechanisms to prepare companies with rapid and comprehensive responses to rapidly evolving cybersecurity risks and threats. Evan has conducted training and incident simulations, developed response plans, led privileged investigations, and advised on hundreds of data breaches where he works closely with forensic investigators. Evan also counsels businesses on both domestic and international privacy compliance matters, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). He is also a Registered Practitioner under the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) framework.

Read more about Evan D. Wolff
Show more Show less
Photo of Maida Oringher Lerner Maida Oringher Lerner

Maida Lerner is senior counsel in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a part of the firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity, Government Contracts, and Environment & Natural Resources groups. Maida counsels a broad group of clients in a variety of sectors on cyber…

Maida Lerner is senior counsel in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a part of the firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity, Government Contracts, and Environment & Natural Resources groups. Maida counsels a broad group of clients in a variety of sectors on cyber and physical security compliance and risk management, homeland security, and administrative matters, including trade associations and companies in the pipeline, transportation, government contracts, education, health care, and manufacturing sectors.

Read more about Maida Oringher Lerner
Show more Show less
Photo of Anand Sithian Anand Sithian

For high-stakes internal and government investigations and complex regulatory and compliance matters, companies and individuals look to Anand to provide strategic advice and counseling, particularly on issues relating to the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”), economic sanctions, and digital assets. Anand

…

For high-stakes internal and government investigations and complex regulatory and compliance matters, companies and individuals look to Anand to provide strategic advice and counseling, particularly on issues relating to the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”), economic sanctions, and digital assets. Anand is resident in the firm’s New York office and a member of the firm’s International Trade, White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement, and Financial Services groups.

A former federal prosecutor, Anand leverages his government experience to guide clients through complex white-collar matters, including grand jury and regulatory investigations, enforcement proceedings, and internal investigations. Anand has deep experience in parallel criminal and civil investigations and proceedings, and often represents clients in defending against civil lawsuits related to government investigations.

Representing some of the world’s largest banks and technology companies, Anand has addressed a wide range of issues, including economic sanctions, BSA/AML; economic sanctions and national security; payments and cryptocurrency; securities laws; and cybersecurity enforcement. In the regulatory space, Anand prides himself on providing commercial and actionable advice, including in the developing areas of digital assets, FinTech, and payments.

Read more about Anand Sithian
Show more Show less
Photo of Matthew B. Welling Matthew B. Welling

Matthew B. Welling is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, where he practices in the firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity and Energy groups. Matthew has a deep technical background that he leverages to represent clients in a wide range of counseling…

Matthew B. Welling is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office, where he practices in the firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity and Energy groups. Matthew has a deep technical background that he leverages to represent clients in a wide range of counseling and regulatory matters. His experience includes cybersecurity and privacy incident response, compliance reviews, risk assessments, and the development of corporate policies and procedures, such as incident response plans. Matthew has a diverse background in M&A and other corporate transactional issues, with specific recent experience with technology transactions, cybersecurity issues, and critical infrastructure project development.

Read more about Matthew B. Welling
Show more Show less
Related Posts
Treasury Agencies Issue Virtual Currency Sanctions Compliance Guidance and Ransomware Trends Statistics
November 15, 2021
Treasury Sanctions Tornado Cash and Turns Up Heat on Mixers
August 17, 2022
New York Governor Kathy Hochul Announces Nomination of Adrienne Harris as Superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services
September 2, 2021