Generally, application guidelines and requirements must be strictly followed, and. Ofac penalties and enforcement actions show greater focus on violations linked to weapons of mass destruction date. Treasuryofac publishes new cubarelated faqs export. Ofac penalties and enforcement actions show greater focus. These faqs provide additional clarity regarding revised guidance that ofac issued on august, 2014, which can be found on ofacs website here, amending earlier guidance that had been issued on february 14, 2008 ofacs 50 percent rule. Rabobank pleads guilty to obstructing occ supervision and. Ofac takes aggressive enforcement action in connection. See ofac press release, treasury designates iranbased financial facilitators of malicious cyber activity and for the first time identifies associated digital currency addresses november 28, 2018. Additionally, ofac is issuing new frequently asked questions pertaining to this revised guidance.
This announcement updates ofacs february 14, 2008, guidance establishing the. Financial enforcement actions week of february 08 to. Ofac amends 50 percent rule for sanctions blog post. On may 2, 2019, ofac published the sanctions compliance guidance, a. On february 14, 2008, ofac issued guidance stating that the property and interests in property of an entity are blocked if the entity is owned, directly or indirectly, 50% or more by a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to an executive order or regulations administered by ofac.
On february 24, 2015, ofac added sis and its directormajority owner, savo stjepanovic, to its list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons the sdn list for their role in an international steroid trafficking ring. An individual or business can ask ofac for its opinion on whether or not the transaction would be authorized in order to protect themselves from inadvertently violating the sanctions. Export controls and sanctions update marchapril 2018. The flurry of activity towards the end of the year focused on multilateral efforts to. An interpretiveguidance request is a request to ofac for an advisory opinion about a transaction a person wants to make prior to doing the transaction. Following the bad news, the complaint alleges that cardinal and crawford filed quarterly reports with the sec that misrepresented to. Ofac issues iranianrelated licenses on february 4, ofac issued general license no. Securities and exchange commissions fiscal year 2017 compliance with the improper payments information act. March 19, 2016 an enduring consequence of the horror inflicted by the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, is the dread that a future terrorist attack on the united states could involve weapons of mass destruction. On february 14, 2008, ofac issued guidance stating that the property and.
Ofac sanctions compliance does ofac expect banks that. Enforcement of the sanctions in the united states and the european union has been accompanied by at times very significant penalties. Provided that the traveler has already completed at least one travelrelated transaction such as purchasing a flight or reserving accommodation prior to the presidents announcement on june 16, 2017, all additional travelrelated transactions for that trip, whether the trip occurs before or after ofacs new regulations are issued, would. All fdic employees in all fdic facilities are now engaged in mandatory telework through at least april 12. Treasury targets north koreacontrolled information. Unpacking ofacs revised guidance regarding its 50 percent. Consistent with guidance issued by ofac on february 14, 2008, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to an executive order or regulations administered by ofac is considered to have an interest in all property and interests in property of an entity in which it owns, directly or indirectly, a 50% or greater interest. Ofac compliance in the securities and investment sector emerald. The year 20 saw vigorous enforcement activity in connection with the increasingly restrictive sanctions, particularly with respect to iran. On february 14, 2008, ofac issued guidance stating that the property and interests in property of an entity are blocked if the entity is owned, directly or indirectly, 50% or more by a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to an executive order or. Department of treasury office of foreign assets con trol ofac issued new guidance in the form of frequently asked pquestions faqs on the scope of sanctions relief available under the joint comprehensive plan of action jcpoa.
Treasury department recently issued a series of instructive press releases regarding enforcement actions. Ofac also provides new guidance on the scope of general license h and foreign entities owned or controlled by u. You have asked if a federal credit union fcu may provide employee benefits to the employees of a cuso that is whollyowned or majorityowned by. Economic sanctions and antimoney laundering aml remain at the forefront of u. On january 12, 2017, ofac released a compliance services guidance document as a response to numerous inquiries relating to whether u. Fdic fil292020, issued friday, updates the steps announced on march 16, 2020, to protect banks and consumers and to continue operations. Ofac also issued general license 12a, and 14, and new frequently asked questions. Supervisory and other fdic activities at financial institutions will be conducted offsite for an additional two weeks through april 12.
Department of the treasurys office of foreign assets control ofac today announced north korearelated designations, continuing the implementation of existing sanctions. Effective february 18, 2015, the department of the treasurys office of foreign assets control ofac, in consultation with the departments of state and commerce, amended the sudanese sanctions regulations, 31 c. There is no single compliance program suitable for every financial institution. Filing a request for interpretive guidance from ofac. For more information about the new designations, the general license and the faqs, visit the ofac ukrainerussiarelated sanctions page. It also expects to amend regulations implementing existing sanctions programs to reflect the new guidance. Crossborder investigations update insights skadden. Cardinal, an oilandgas penny stock company based in dallas, texas, lost control of its interest in two oilandgas leases in mid2017 that accounted for nearly all of the companys revenue. General license h, issued on january 16, 2016, broadly authorized nonu. Guidance issued by the financial crimes enforcement network. Ofac today is amending the regulations to implement executive order 399 of april 25, 2006 71 fr 25059, april 28, 2006 e.
The treasury departments office of foreign assets control ofac has issued its monthly report of civil penalties imposed on companies and individuals for allegedly violating the sanctions regimes administered by ofac. Occ bulletins issued prior to the ots integration date. If you are unable to download a copy of an enforcement action from fincens web site, you may request that a paper copy be mailed to you by. Since 2008, officials have operated under what is called the 50 percent rule, a. Revised guidance on entities owned by persons whose property. The committee on foreign investment in the united states.
The rule was first introduced in 2008 when ofac issued guidance restricting u. Im guidance update 6 whether some disclosures should be accompanied by interactive text e. Whose property and interests in property are blocked, february 14, 2008. Notably, in addition to agreeing to a substantial forfeiture and. New ofac sanctions law what compliance practitioners. Overview of us and eu trade sanctions mcdermott will. The paper begins with a brief overview of the sanctions programs administered. Ofac penalties export compliance training institute. This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same title dated july 2018. Further, certain of ofacs sanctions programs, such as those. Overview of us and eu trade sanctions following is a summary of the current us and eu sanctions that restrict trade with andor investment. Inspector generals fy 2017 letter to omb on sec s implementation of purchase card program audit recommendations. On february 14, 2008, ofac issued guidance stating that the property and interests in property of an entity are blocked if the entity is owned, directly or indirectly, 50% or more by a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to an executive order or regulations estimated reading time. This template is provided to assist small firms in fulfilling their responsibilities to establish an antimoney laundering aml program as required by the bank secrecy act bsa and its implementing regulations and finra rule 3310 aml compliance program.
February, 2018 download pdf on february 7, 2018, the u. New ofac sanctions law what compliance practitioners need to know scce utilities and energy compliance conference, february 11, 2019 presented by. Compliance with the treasury departments office of foreign assets control ofac 50% rule is one of the biggest global trade compliance challenges facing businesses today. Ofac apparently advised wells fargo about the account holder but the bank never looked into the situation until several years later.
This week, ncua issued ncua legal opinion 080218 april 4, 2008, which addresses whether a credit union may provide hr benefits for cuso employees, or in the alternative, manage the benefits if the cuso pays the costs. As part of this, ofac amended directive 4 under executive order. Bis denial order against zte effective 15 april 2018 until 23 march 2025, the bureau of industry and. On october 31, 2017, the office of foreign assets control ofac took a number of actions to implement the countering russian influence in europe and eurasia act crieea also known as the countering americas adversaries through sanctions act caatsa, a larger sanctions statute of which crieea was a part. Director of trade compliance wesco international 1 overview brief introduction to ofac as well as recent new sanctions law enactment in aug 2017 impacting. The agency also issued various guidance documents, most notably its may 2019 guidance on the features of an effective sanctions compliance. The new guidance, issued on august, 2014 and effective immediately, will have significant impact across a variety of sanctions programs and will require companies to exercise additional caution. Ofac issues new iran guidance on june 8, 2016, the u. These faqs provide additional clarity regarding revised guidance that ofac issued on. Under the fcra, a consumer report is defined as any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a cra bearing on a consumers credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living which is used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of serving as a factor in. Economic sanctions and antimoney laundering developments. Apple entered into an app development agreement with sis in 2008.