The [US] Treasury Department added the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria and its Lebanon-based subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, to its sanctions list, citing their links to human rights abuses and to illegal weapons trade with North Korea. Mobile phone company Syriatel was targeted because it is controlled by "one of the regime's most corrupt insiders" [Assad's cousin, Rami Makhluf]...The sanctions may not have much immediate economic impact because the U.S. already severely limits trade and economic ties with Syria, but they can further hamper the reputation of the companies and lead other governments, such as those in Europe, to enact tougher punishments on individuals and companies close to President Bashar Assad...