The latest U.S. foreign aid bill supporting Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan enacted on April 24, 2024 enhances U.S. sanctions and export controls including expanding (1) the statute of limitations for sanctions violations; (2) the President’s authority to coordinate sanctions efforts with the European Union and the United Kingdom; (3) sanctions and export controls on Iran
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 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.
CFIUS Proposes Enhanced Enforcement and Mitigation Rules and Steeper Penalties for Non-Compliance
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) has published proposed regulatory amendments that, if implemented, would expand CFIUS’s authority to seek information for non-notified transactions, establish timelines for parties to respond to CFIUS’s mitigation proposals, and increase penalties for certain violations to the greater of $5 million or the…
FinCEN Proposes Delaying Some Beneficial Ownership Filing Deadlines and Releases Additional Guidance for Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting
In advance of the impending January 1, 2024 effective date for the U.S. Treasury Department, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (“FinCEN’s”) beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) reporting requirements, FinCEN has proposed an extension of the reporting deadline for some reporting companies, and issued additional guidance regarding BOI reporting requirements, including a Small Entity Compliance Guide, a …
Executive Order and Rulemaking on U.S. Outbound Investment
- Key takeaway #1 Issuance of Executive Order and Rulemaking: On August 9, 2023, President Biden issued a long-anticipated “Executive Order on Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern” (the “Executive Order”). The Executive Order, which the President issued pursuant to the
DOJ, OFAC, and BIS Issue “Tri-Seal Compliance Note” Focusing on Voluntary Self-Disclosures
- Key takeaway #1 Companies should be mindful that the U.S. agencies responsible for civil and criminal export controls and sanctions compliance maintain separate VSD policies. This announcement highlights key aspects of each VSD policy.
- Key takeaway #2 Failure to initiate an internal investigation promptly after discovering a potential export controls or sanctions
Mandatory Notifications (and Potential Prohibitions) on Outbound Investment in China Ahead?
On July 25, 2023, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure to add mandatory notifications of certain investments in China to the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”). The Outbound Investment Transparency Act, authored by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bob Casey (D-PA), would require U.S. companies to notify the government of investments in certain Chinese sectors…
Pressure Mounting: United States and United Kingdom Impose New Sanctions and Export Controls on Russia
Following a meeting of the G7 Summit Leaders, on May 19, 2023, the United States and the United Kingdom announced a new round of sanctions and export controls against the Government of the Russian Federation (“Russia”) to continue their efforts against key sectors of Russia’s military-industrial base.
China’s Revised Counterespionage Law and Recent Actions Highlight Challenges for U.S. Companies Operating in China
While the Biden’s administration’s recent corporate enforcement actions and initiatives have garnered significant press attention, China has engaged in recent months in a series of less-publicized corporate enforcement actions and initiatives against non-Chinese companies (mostly, but not exclusively, U.S.-based) operating in the country, including through new investigations, raids of China-based offices, and even detention of…
FinCEN Issues Guidance on the “Who, What, When” of Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements
On March 24, 2023, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its first set of guidance documents for its beneficial ownership reporting requirements, which take effect on January 1, 2024.
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The United States Imposes New Sanctions and Export Controls Targeting Russia and Belarus, Issues Joint Compliance Guidance, and Announces Corporate Compliance with Sanctions and Export Controls as an Enforcement Priority
On February 24, 2023, the United States and other G7 nations announced a number of new sanctions and export control measures coinciding with the one-year mark of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Shortly after these expansive sanctions and export controls were announced, the Departments of Justice (“DOJ”), the Treasury (“Treasury”), and Commerce (“Commerce”) issued their…