Companies warned to observe new US sanctions on Nicaragua

Companies doing business in Nicaragua should monitor closely any designations made as a result of US President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) imposing sanctions on Nicaragua, law firm White & Case has warned.

“In the event of further designations and the imposition of other sanctions measures under the new EO, the number of US sanctions targets may increase,” the law firm said in a release.



“Such measures will merit additional attention to screening transaction parties and their ownership structures for US sanctions risk. Failure to do so may result in non-compliance and could result in severe penalties for sanctions violations,” it added.

Trump signed an EO in late November entitled ‘Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua’.

The EO was issued to deal with the threat posed by the situation in Nicaragua, including the violent response by the government of President Daniel Ortega (pictured) to citizens’ protests that began in April against the government’s social security reforms, and the regime’s “systematic dismantling and undermining of democratic institutions and the rule of law, its use of indiscriminate violence and repressive tactics against civilians, as well as its corruption leading to the destabilization of Nicaragua’s economy”, according to the text of the EO.

The EO authorises blocking the property and interests in property located in the US, or in the possession or control of a US person, of parties determined to be responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuse in Nicaragua, or actions or policies that undermine democratic processes in the Central American country. 



The EO also imposes sanctions on any company engaged in transactions involving deceptive practices or corruption by, on behalf of, or otherwise related to the government of Nicaragua, or a current or former official of the government.