As reported in our previous client update, on 5 January 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, along with Egypt, signed the “Al-Ula Declaration” at the 41st GCC Summit held in the city of Al-Ula. This marks the end of a three and a half year boycott against the State of Qatar, which was put in place in June…
On 15 July 2020, the U.S. and Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”)-led Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (“TFTC”) designated six targets affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (“ISIS”), including an entity allegedly posing as a charity (and its director) based in Afghanistan that allegedly provided support to ISIS’ branch in that country, ISIS-Khorasan (“ISIS-K”). The entities that were designated are: Al Haram ExchangeTawasul CompanyAl-Khalidi ExchangeNejaat Social Welfare Organization Five of these targets (which includes…
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently designated as Specially Designated Nationals (“SDNs”) a number of entities linked to the Iranian steel, aluminum, and iron sectors that are likely to be of particular interest for companies doing trade in or with the Middle East or financial institutions financing trade and business in the region. This article highlights OFAC’s recent action and outlines some practical considerations. On 25 June 2020,…