China’s Huawei is already banned from US tech: Here’s what happens if it is put on Washington’s Specially Designated Nationals list
- In 2015, OFAC reached a US$963 million settlement with banking group BNP Paribas for violations of US sanctions
Washington has considered banning Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecoms equipment supplier, from the US financial system, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday.
Earlier this year the White House National Security Council debated whether to put the Chinese telecommunications giant on the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The financial sanctions plan, which was ultimately shelved in favour of imposing a separate ban on Huawei buying US products and services, could be revived in coming months, the report said.
If applied, the SDN list sanction could make it virtually impossible for Huawei to complete transactions in US dollars, dealing another blow to the company the US considers a national security risk.
1. What is the SDN list?
Published by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the SDN list contains names of entities, groups, organizations and individuals that are blocked from making transactions in US dollars. Any US assets they own are frozen.
The list, which is over 1300-pages long, includes individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. It also lists individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programmes that are not country-specific.
