U.S. Department of Treasury

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By: Reid Whitten

On February 25, 2013, the Chinese state oil company, CNOOC, closed a $15.1 billion deal to take over Canadian oil company, Nexen.  Along with interests in the Canadian oil sands of Alberta and offshore production in west Africa and the North Sea, CNOOC will acquire more than 200 drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico, a primary source of U.S. oil.  According to Nexen, its existing assets in the area include facilities producing more than 15,000 barrels of oil per day in 2012, with notable exploration potential for future growth.…
Continue Reading Pay Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain: The Mysterious Methods to CFIUS Approval

By: Thad McBride

While the United States has long maintained sanctions on Iran and has expanded those sanctions several times recently, none of those recent actions has had such a direct impact on U.S. companies as the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act that President Obama signed into on August 10, 2012 (the “Act”).  The Act creates new Iran sanctions, and provides for new sanctions on persons deemed to be involved in committing or supporting human rights abuses in Syria, including, in certain cases, non-Syrian parties.
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Continue Reading Iran, Syria Sanctions Strengthened by New U.S. Law

By: Reid Whitten and Cheryl Palmeri

On July 11, 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two general licenses lifting long-standing sanctions against Myanmar.  The licenses were issued in response to historic reforms that have taken place in the country over the past year, the details of which we reported in this blog in February and May of this year.…
Continue Reading OFAC Authorizes the Exportation of Financial Services to and New Investment in Myanmar

By: Scott Maberry and Cheryl Palmeri

The U.S. government has taken another in a series of steps relaxing the sanctions it imposes against Myanmar, a country the Obama Administration still refers to by its pre-coup name, Burma. On April 17, 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 14-C (General License), authorizing certain financial transactions in support of humanitarian, religious, and other not-for-profit activities in Myanmar. This General License – which permits transactions previously prohibited under U.S. sanctions laws – is the U.S. government’s most recent move to scale back its restrictions on trade with Myanmar. …
Continue Reading Loosening Up: New Developments in Sanctions Against Myanmar