OFAC

The United Kingdom must improve its outreach and guidance to the private sector to make sure its post-Brexit sanctions regime is effective, a task force organized by the Royal United Services Institute said in a September report. The task force, composed of former U.K. sanctions officials, policy experts and private sector representatives, said Britain should review and increase staffing within its sanctions regimes and consider adopting some of the sanctions guidance tools provided by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, RUSI said.

It may only be a matter of time before countries create a trade payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions, said David Mortlock, a trade lawyer and senior fellow with the Atlantic Council.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Sept. 10 that “strengthens and expands” the State and Treasury departments' sanctions authorities against terrorists, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a notice. Among several changes, the order allows the U.S. to impose “correspondent account or payable-through account sanctions” on foreign banks that “knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant transaction” for a U.S. sanctioned global terrorist, OFAC said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on a shipping network that moves hundreds of millions of dollars of oil for Iran, Treasury said in a Sept. 4 press release. The network includes dozens of ship managers, ships and “facilitators” overseen by Rostam Qasemi, a senior Iranian military official and the country’s former minister of petroleum. The sanctions target 16 entities, 10 people and 11 ships.

A trade credit insurer will settle for about $345,000 after it violated the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an Aug. 16 enforcement notice. The company, Maryland-based Atradius Trade Credit Insurance, allegedly completed transactions with sanctioned entities.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control is holding its 2019 Fall Symposium on Nov. 12 in Washington, D.C., OFAC said in an Aug. 14 notice. The symposium will feature a “comprehensive review” of U.S. sanctions and OFAC staff will be available to answer questions, the agency said. Registration is open, but the agency has not yet released an agenda. According to the webpage for the event, the agenda will be made available at the event.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said a Virginia-based company violated OFAC’s Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations after providing the agency false or misleading statements during an OFAC investigation, according to an Aug. 8 enforcement notice. The violation stems from DNI Express Shipping Company’s sale of farm equipment to Sudan, which OFAC said violated the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control found a U.S. company in violation of OFAC’s Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations for failing to provide information about a sale to Iran after being subpoenaed, OFAC said in an Aug. 8 enforcement notice. The violations stem from Southern Cross Aviation’s sale of helicopters to an Iranian businessman in Ecuador, OFAC said.

President Donald Trump and the Department of the Treasury announced new Iran sanctions that target the country’s supreme leader and eight senior military officials, the White House said June 24.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a “finding of violation” against U.S.-based State Street Bank and Trust Co. (SSBT) after it violated U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iran, OFAC said in a May 28 notice. The bank was not fined, OFAC said, partly because the bank’s managers were likely unaware of the violations and because the bank cooperated with OFAC and improved its compliance program.