OFAC announces Hong Kong-related designations
On March 17, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added several Chinese citizens and Hong Kong nationals to the Specially Designated Nationals List. The individuals were designated under Executive Order (E.O.) 13936, which, among other things, authorizes the imposition of sanctions on persons who are determined to be responsible for or complicit in actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, or autonomy of Hong Kong. Under E.O. 13936, “[a]ll property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person, . . .are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in” with any foreign person identified to have engaged in the aforementioned activities.