Oversight

OFAC designated more than a dozen individuals and entities linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, targeting two separate networks accused of fentanyl trafficking and money laundering, including one that allegedly converted bulk U.S. drug cash into cryptocurrency for transfer to cartel leadership in Mexico.

OFSI has fined Deutsche Bank AG’s London branch £165,000 for processing two payments totaling £635,618.75 to a Russian-owned online media streaming company in breach of UK sanctions on Moscow. 

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating a surge of more than $800 million in oil futures trades that occurred moments before President Trump announced on social media that he was postponing strikes on Tehran’s energy infrastructure.

Britain issued a new sanctions waiver on Tuesday allowing the import of certain diesel and jet fuel processed in third countries from Russian-origin oil, even as the United States separately tightened sanctions on networks it accused of supporting Hamas and helping Iran move oil and petrochemical revenue.

Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises Ltd. has agreed to pay $275 million to settle U.S. allegations that it imported Iranian liquefied petroleum gas through a Dubai-based middleman while routing dollar payments through American banks, OFAC disclosed on Monday.

The Trump administration has extended a controversial waiver on sanctions targeting Russian seaborne oil and other petroleum products after letting it expire two days earlier. 

The chief executive of Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the regulator will no longer be able to defend against every illicit-finance threat equally and must openly prioritize what it focuses on as technology-linked scams continue to rise. 

Multiple major German banks have abruptly frozen the accounts of Russian and Belarusian nationals living in Germany, demanding fresh proof of residency and leaving long-term customers without access to their money.

PayPal has agreed to forgo approximately $30 million in transaction fees to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into whether the financial services company unlawfully favored minority-owned businesses through a funding initiative launched in 2020.

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians as well as on members of Hamas, breaking a months-long deadlock after Hungary’s new government lifted a veto put in place under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.