Failure to comply with the complex web of US sanctions laws and regulations carries significant risks both in terms of exposure to civil fines and penalties and reputational harm. To help maritime sector stakeholders navigate these regulations, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has published scenario-based sanctions compliance guidance on … Continue Reading
The President’s signing of the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act (the “Act”)[1] on April 24, 2024 marked one of the most significant expansions of the sanctions enforcement authority of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). For many decades OFAC’s civil enforcement actions have been limited to five years … Continue Reading
With the recent SCOTUS decision overturning Chevron, lawyers involved in administrative litigation are considering how the decision will affect their matters. Sanctions litigation is one area which will be impacted. Now, when sanctions designations are challenged in court, the government will no longer be able to simply invoke Chevron deference and Specially Designated Nationals (“SDNs”) … Continue Reading
On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law H.R. 815[1], an emergency supplemental appropriations law, that provides $95.3 billion in military aid to U.S. allies and requires the divestiture of certain social media applications. While much of the discussion surrounding the new law focuses on the emergency foreign aid funding for Ukraine, Israel, and … Continue Reading
In our previous article on this topic (which you can read here), we analyzed recent enforcement activity by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) related to the maritime transport of Russian-origin crude oil and Russian-origin petroleum products above price caps agreed by the “Price Cap Coalition,” comprising Australia, Canada, … Continue Reading
In June 2022, the Group of Seven (“G7”) countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—decided to pursue a policy to cap the price of Russian oil. In December 2022, the G7 countries, joined by Australia and the supranational European Union (together, the “Price Cap Coalition”) officially implemented measures to ban … Continue Reading
The second half of 2023 saw eight enforcement actions from the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). These actions reflect a range of penalties, industries, sanctions programs, conduct, and lessons learned. Below are some highlights from OFAC’s enforcement releases and settlement agreements. Penalties OFAC imposed a total of $984,851,289.90 in penalties … Continue Reading
In our previous post, here, we explained how the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) used its authority under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (“GloMag”) to sanction brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta (the “Guptas”), and their business associate Salim Essa, effectively barring them from the U.S. financial … Continue Reading
Earlier this year, we published a post on the first Tri-Seal Compliance Note (“First Note”) issued by the United States Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) National Security Division (“NSD”), the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”).[1] When issuing the First Note, … Continue Reading
The investigation and enforcement of potential sanctions violations by crypto exchanges is an area of focus in the US at present. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) recent settlement with Kraken, a global virtual currency exchange, is the most recent OFAC case demonstrating the risks for virtual currency platforms … Continue Reading
On November 28, 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a settlement agreement with Payward, Inc., known as Kraken (“Kraken”), a United States-based virtual currency exchange. Kraken agreed to pay $362,158.70 to resolve its potential civil liability for 826 apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“Apparent Violations”). The settlement amount … Continue Reading
On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash for having laundered more than USD 7 billion worth of virtual currency since its founding in 2019. This includes over USD 455 million worth of stolen virtual currency associated with the Lazarus Group, … Continue Reading
On October 18, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) released the findings from its review of the economic sanctions administered and enforced by its Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). During the review, Treasury met with individuals representing hundreds of sanctions stakeholders, including Members of Congress and their staffs, the private sector, foreign … Continue Reading
On September 21, 2021, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued an Updated Advisory on Potential Sanctions Risks for Facilitating Ransomware Payments (the “Updated Advisory”) superseding its earlier October 1, 2020 guidance on ransomware attacks and, for the first time, added a virtual currency exchange to the Specially … Continue Reading
In light of two new US Treasury Department advisories signaling increased oversight of ransomware payments, victim companies and their third-party response teams considering making payments should follow certain due diligence and compliance best practices, write Colin Jennings, Ericka Johnson, Dylan Yépez and Elizabeth Weil Shaw in an article for Law360.… Continue Reading
Two U.S. authorities recently announced actions against four individuals and numerous entities associated with BitMEX, an online trading platform for futures contracts and other derivative products tied to the value of cryptocurrencies. Both actions allege that BitMEX failed to put in place required anti-money laundering programs and procedures, and serve as a reminder that institutions … Continue Reading
With cybercrime on the rise, two U.S. Treasury Department components, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), issued advisories on one of the most insidious forms of cyberattack – ransomware.… Continue Reading
In an earlier post, here, we scrutinized the form and content of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)’s March 6, 2020 guidance pertaining to the provision of humanitarian goods and assistance to the people of Iran consistent with U.S. sanctions. In this concluding post, we discuss the factors the … Continue Reading
On March 6, 2020 and in response to an outbreak of coronavirus in Iran, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued guidance pertaining to the manner in which humanitarian goods and assistance may be provided to the people of Iran consistent with U.S. sanctions against Iran. This two-part post … Continue Reading
On April 20, the U.S. Treasury Department said it would consider the Coronavirus pandemic’s impact of potentially reducing corporate resources as a mitigating factor in determining the appropriate response to sanctions violations. Something else was left unsaid.… Continue Reading
A New York federal judge recently held that a foreign bank could not challenge U.S. federal criminal jurisdiction prior to arraignment. US Allegation Halkbank is a Turkish majority state-owned bank. The United States alleged that Halkbank developed an illicit scheme comprised “of fraudulent transactions intended to deceive U.S. regulators and foreign banks” through which the … Continue Reading
Following a ruling issued last week by a federal judge in Texas, ExxonMobil Corporation (“ExxonMobil”) will not have to pay a previously issued penalty for contracting with Russia’s state-owned PJSC Rosneft Oil Company (“Rosneft”), since it was not provided fair notice by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) that … Continue Reading
In an earlier post, here, we examined the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (“GloMag”), which was formally implemented by an Executive Order that declared “serious human rights abuses and corruption globally” as an emergency threat to U.S. interests. The President delegated his authority under GloMag to the Global Targeting Office of the U.S. Department … Continue Reading
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently penalized a public company for violating U.S. economic sanctions. The violation cited the “books and records” and “internal controls” provisions of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). With this unprecedented action, the SEC has put companies on notice that the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) and … Continue Reading