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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

OFAC issues counter terrorism general license and related FAQs for Afghanistan

Financial Crimes OFAC Department of Treasury OFAC Sanctions OFAC Designations Afghanistan

Financial Crimes

On December 10, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Counter Terrorism General License 16 – Authorizing Noncommercial, Personal Remittances to Afghanistan. Under GL 16, “all transactions involving the Taliban or the Haqqani Network, or any entity in which the Taliban or the Haqqani Network owns, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, a 50 percent or greater interest,” that would otherwise be prohibited by the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, the Foreign Terrorist Organizations Sanctions Regulations, or amended Executive Order 13224, that are “ordinarily incident and necessary to the transfer of noncommercial, personal remittances to Afghanistan, including through Afghan depository institutions, are authorized.” GL 16 does not, however, authorize (i) financial transfers to identified blocked persons (except for when executing the payment of certain taxes, fees, or other duties); (ii) “[a]ny debit to an account on the books of a U.S. financial institution of any blocked person” described within GL 16; or (iii) any transactions or activities otherwise prohibited by the aforementioned sanctions regulations and executive order. Additionally, OFAC published related amended FAQ 931 and new FAQ 949.