Global Trade & Foreign Policy Insights

The 1984 Supreme Court decision in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. established the ‘Chevron deference’ doctrine, which required courts to defer to administrative agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes if they were reasonable. This doctrine significantly impacted the financial services sector, making it difficult to challenge the US Department of the Treasury's actions, such as sanctions and penalties. 

On September 30, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published a rule (the Final Rule) implementing the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (the CTA).

On September 30, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network published a highly anticipated rule (the “Final UBO Rule” or the “Final Rule”) that implements the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act.

On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its second-ever designation of a virtual-currency mixer—Tornado Cash (“Tornado”)—which was used to launder several billion dollars’ worth of virtual currency, including funds stolen by a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and dozens of its allies and partners around the globe have imposed what the White House has called “the most impactful, coordinated, and wide-ranging economic restrictions in history.”[1] Although Russia is still not subject to a complete embargo in the United States, the sanctions placed on Russia have been severe and targeted against individuals and entities (“persons”) operating in some of its most important sectors, such as the financial sector.[2]

Last month, Winston & Strawn’s International Trade attorneys hosted a webinar on the most significant International Trade highlights of 2021, as well as our team’s predictions for 2022.

This year has brought several important sweeping regulatory changes in the United States, including the most substantive Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/anti-money laundering (AML) reform since the U.S. PATRIOT ACT of 2001.

On April 15, 2020, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council released updates to the Bank Secrecy Act /Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual.

On March 13, 2020, President Trump declared a National Emergency in response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Starting the week prior and continuing to date, federal financial institution regulators and related government agencies have released guidance to address concerns.

On October 15, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury convened the first meeting of the Counter-Hizballah International Partnership (“CHIP”) with the goal of building multilateral cooperation to target and dismantle global financial networks used by Hizballah to fund its agenda.

Winston & Strawn is pleased to announce the launch of our blog covering global trade & foreign policy.