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• To Russia, With Love

  Imagine President Ronald Reagan saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, build that wall.” Crazy, right? And yet here we are, a president indulging in obvious lies while abandoning America’s allies and ending the isolation of Russia imposed for invading a neighboring sovereign nation, and his MAGA faithful swoon with adoration. In the course of a day, Trump has...

• Parting Shots by Biden Administration in the Form of Sweeping New Russia Sanctions

  The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of State issued new Russia sanctions on January 10th and 15th, 2025. January 10 Action In the January 10 action, OFAC and the State Department targeted entities involved in currently active Russian energy production and exports. Previously, the U.S....

• OFAC Expands Sanctions against Russian Energy Sector

  On January 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, including the imposition of a new petroleum services ban, expanded secondary sanctions authority, and designations of certain Russian oil producers, insurance providers, and more than 180 so-called “shadow fleet” vessels.  Until...

• EU Strengthens Sanctions Against Russia with 15th Package of Restrictive Measures

  On December 16, 2024, the European Union (EU) adopted its 15th package of sanctions against Russia in response to its ongoing aggression toward Ukraine. The new measures target key sectors of Russia’s military-industrial complex, including the “shadow fleet” and companies that support this complex.  Our colleagues at The Trade Practitioner cover this significant development in...

• The EU Strengthens Sanctions Against Russia with 15th Package of Restrictive Measures

  On 16 December 2024, the European Union (EU) adopted its 15th package of sanctions against Russia in response to its ongoing aggression toward Ukraine. The new measures target key sectors of Russia’s military-industrial complex, including the “shadow fleet” and companies that support this complex. In a significant development, the EU has imposed fully-fledged sanctions –...

• A Flurry of Healthcare Sector Cybersecurity Regulatory Developments in 2024

  2024 was a record year for cyberattacks in the healthcare sector. According to the Breach Portal maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), to date this year, there have been more than 530 breaches of protected health information (“PHI”) affecting 500 or more individuals. 2024 also...

• Sanctions on Russian Securities Infrastructure Create Additional Hurdles to Divesting from Russia

  The Russian financial services sector remains a key target of U.S., UK, and EU sanctions.  As discussed below, a number of recent such sanctions against Russia and countermeasures by the Russian government  have further complicated efforts for investors seeking to divest listed securities from Russia. As mentioned in our previous alert, on November 21, 2024,...

• 2024 Brought Heightened Awareness of Political Speech in the Workplace

  Boris Godunov is an opera based on the historical events surrounding the rise and fall of the Russian Tsar of the same name.  Written by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, the opera is set in the early 17th century, a time of great turmoil in Russia.  Exploring themes of legitimacy, power, and the burden of leadership,...

• Russian Countermeasures: The Governmental Commission Tightens Conditions for Exits by Investors From Unfriendly Jurisdictions

  As anticipated by recent media coverage, the Governmental Commission for Control over Foreign Investments (the “Governmental Commission”) published its October 15, 2024 decision tightening conditions for exits by investors from “unfriendly” jurisdictions (i.e., those that have imposed sanctions against Russia) (the “Decision”).  Prior to the Decision, the Governmental Commission had already imposed various conditions when...

• G7 Issues New Recommendations to Prevent Circumvention of Sanctions Against Russia

  The primary objective of this guidance is to ensure industry compliance with export controls and help businesses identify risks associated with circumvention of export restrictions directed against the Russian military-industrial complex. The joint guidance identifies the following priority areas: (i)products posing an increased risk of reexport to Russia; (ii) red flag indicators of potential export...

Featured documents

• 710 people, including 137 children, hospitalised with hepatitis A in Nizhny Novgorod

  19.09.2005 NIZHNY NOVGOROD, September 19 (Itar-Tass) – The latest reports from Nizhny Novgorod say that 710 people, including 137 children, have been hospitalised with the diagnosis of hepatitis A in Russia’s third-largest city after Moscow and St. Petersburg. All infection hospitals are full, and...

• Market Manipulation?

  According to this article in the Houston Chronicle, OPEC has agreed to cut 2.2 million barrels from its daily production while Russia and Azerbaijan have announced their own cutbacks as well (in the range of hundreds of thousands of barrels).  Attempted price manipulation?  You bet....

• Glass Half Empty or Half Full? Stamping Out Corruption One GRECO Recommendation at a Time

  On February 1, 2007, Russia became a member of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). GRECO monitors the compliance by its members with the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption standards through a process of mutual evaluation and peer pressure, helping to identify deficiencies in national...

• Shale: It’s Not Just the U.S.

  The WSJ has an interesting article on the potential for shale development in eastern Europe:  “At least part of the region’s motivation in embracing these partners is obvious: to get out from under Russia’s thumb. According to a May study by consultancy KPMG, 69% of the gas consumed in Central and...

• Lost Meat Sales to Russia Over Ractopamine Costing Millions, Not Billions

  The ban on U.S. pork and beef exports to Russia over ractopamine is costly for American producers, but not as much as was recently reported by the U.S. Ambassador. U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul told a Moscow business newspaper that the year-old ban had cost America’s pork and beef...

• EU Increases Sanctions Against Russia

  As described in our Alert published on August 1, 2014, the United States and other nations have ramped up sanctions against Russia related to the ongoing situation in Ukraine. On July 31, 2014, the European Union imposed increased sanctions designed to discourage Russia from, in the words of the EU ...

• Russia

  The Ministry of Finance revised proposed legislation banning virtual currency activity, reducing the applicable fines by approximately 20-50%. However, the activities banned by the proposed legislation remain the same and include the creation, distribution and use of virtual currency....

• News in Russian Advertising Law

  Russian Advertising Law has been substantially amended in the course of 2014 and January 2015. More details are below, but the most remarkable amendments relate to the introduction of a prohibition on advertising on Pay-TV channels and prohibition on advertising of alcoholic beverages. In addition, ...

• Russia Publishes Guidance on Localization of Personal Data

  We recently reported on amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act in Japan.  Similarly, new requirements with respect to Russian citizens’ personal data went into effect on September 1, 2015.  The Russian Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications has recently published the long-awaited...

• NIOSH Explores Workplace Exposure to Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

  The May 2016 issue of NIOSH Research Rounds includes an item entitled “Research Explores Workplace Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes.”  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) summarizes the following two published papers by NIOSH investigators with partners at Kazan State...