Morgan Lewis US and Russia Sanctions Update
CAATSA / Guidances / Lists (cont'd)
CAATSA's basic content (as Russia-relevant)
Codification by statute
of the existing Russia blacklist (SDN) and sectoral (SSI) sanctions enacted by the series of EOs since 2014
which made it harder for President Trump (and now will make it harder for President Biden and beyond) to
narrow loosen any of these sanctions by exec. action - would require new law to repeal CAATSA (recall
Jackson-Vanik Amendment's decades-long life)
State / Treasury Dep'ts in Oct. 2017 issued important Guidances (and FAQs, Entity List, revised
Directives) per various sections of the then-new law
State Dep't on 27 Oct. 2017 issued CAATSA section 231(e) List of entities in the Russian defense / intelligence
sectors: section 231 requires President to impose sanctions on any US or non-US person, wherever located, that
the President determines has knowingly engaged in a "significant transaction" with a Russian defense /
intelligence sector entity on the List of Specified Persons as of now (and associated Public Guidance - and see
slides 41, 51 and 54)
State Dep't also issued on 31 Oct. 2017 Public Guidance
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on CAATSA section 225 (requiring President to impose sanctions on non-US persons that invest in certain types of oil
projects in Russia (see further slide 50))
and on section 232 (giving President discretion to impose sanctions on US or non-US persons that invest or are otherwise
involved substantially in construction / modernization / repair of Russian energy export pipelines) - and State Dep't update
of July 2020 stiffen interp./application of that re Nord Stream 2 etc. (see further slides 8 and 62)
OFAC (Treasury Dep't) on 31 Oct. 2017 issued its initial Guidance (including some revised and new FAQS) to
implement various CAATSA provisions for which it has primary authority - including amended / expanded
Directive 4 (re Arctic offshore, deepwater and shale projects) and three other CAATSA provisions (see below)
and see FAQS 540-547, 579 and 589 (all from Oct. 2017 or after) re "significant transaction", "facilitation" and
other related CAATSA application issues
and further 2020 State Dep't stiffening Guidance re CAATSA section 232 - see slides 8 and 62
Morgan Lewis
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