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  • OFAC issues temporary extension of Ukraine-related General Licenses

    Financial Crimes

    On October 19, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the issuance of Ukraine-related General Licenses (GL) 13F and 15A, which extend the expiration date of previous Ukrainian-based general licenses to December 12 for wind-down transactions for certain companies that otherwise would be prohibited by Ukraine-Related Sanctions Regulations.

    GL 13F supersedes GL 13E and authorizes, among other things, activities “ordinarily incident and necessary” for (i) the divestiture of the holdings of specific blocked persons to a non-U.S. person; and (ii) the facilitation of transfers of debt, equity, or other holdings involving specified blocked persons to a non-U.S. person. GL 15A, which supersedes GL 15, relates to permissible activities with the designated company and its subsidiaries, and applies to the maintenance and wind-down of operations, contracts, and agreements that were effective prior to April 6.

    Visit here for additional InfoBytes coverage on Ukraine sanctions.

    Financial Crimes OFAC Ukraine Sanctions

  • OFAC amends Ukraine-related General Licenses to extend expiration dates

    Financial Crimes

    On October 12, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the issuance of Ukraine-related General Licenses (GL) 13E, 14B, and 16B, which amend previous licenses and extend the expiration date of those licenses from November 12 to December 12 for wind-down transactions relating to a specific list of companies and subsidiaries that otherwise would be prohibited by Ukraine-Related Sanctions Regulations.

    GL 13E supersedes GL 13D and authorizes, among other things, (i) the divestiture of the holdings of specific blocked persons to a non-U.S. person; and (ii) the facilitation of transfers of debt, equity, or other holdings involving specified blocked persons to a non-U.S. person. GL 14B, which supersedes GL 14A, relates to specific wind-down activities involving a Russian aluminum producer sanctioned last April (see previous InfoBytes coverage here). Finally, GL 16B supersedes GL 16A and authorizes the maintenance or wind-down of operations, contracts, or other agreements that were in effect prior to April 6 and that involve a specific list of entities.

    Visit here for additional InfoBytes coverage on Ukraine sanctions.

    Financial Crimes OFAC Ukraine Sanctions

  • FinCEN issues advisory on Iranian efforts to evade U.S. sanctions

    Financial Crimes

    On October 11, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory for financial institutions on ways to help better detect and report the Iranian regime's efforts to evade U.S. sanctions through potentially illicit transactions. The advisory outlines deceptive practices used by the Iranian regime to evade sanctions, including front companies, fraudulent documents, transactions involving exchange houses, falsified shipping documents, and the use of virtual currencies, and warns financial institutions that FinCEN expects Iran to expand use of these practices following the November 5 return of sanctions previously suspended as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. (See previous InfoBytes coverage here on Executive Order 13846, issued last August reimposing sanctions against Iran.) The advisory also includes a series of red flags to help banks identify possible deceptive activity, and provides information for filing suspicious activity reports. FinCEN advises foreign financial institutions to consult the advisory to “better understand the obligations of their U.S. correspondents, to avoid exposure to U.S. sanctions, and to address the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism risks that Iranian activity poses to the international financial system.”

    See here for continuing InfoBytes coverage of actions related to Iran.

    Financial Crimes FinCEN Iran Anti-Money Laundering Combating the Financing of Terrorism Sanctions Executive Order

  • OFAC reaches settlement with national bank to resolve alleged non-egregious sanctions violations

    Financial Crimes

    On October 5, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced an approximate $5.3 million settlement with a national bank for alleged violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations. According to OFAC, the settlement resolves the bank’s potential civil liability for, among other things, allegedly processing net settlement payments for bank clients between January 2008 and February 2012, for which only 0.14 percent were attributable to interests of non-U.S. person entity members that were at various times identified on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List, sanctioned, or located in countries subject to OFAC’s sanctions programs.

    In arriving at the settlement amount, OFAC considered factors such as (i) prior to January 2012, the bank did not appear to have in place a process to independently assess participating member entities of the non-U.S. person entity for OFAC sanctions risk, despite allegedly receiving red flag notifications regarding OFAC-sanctioned members; (ii) staff members processing the net settlement transactions may have had actual knowledge of the members; and (iii) the bank is a large, commercially sophisticated financial institution.

    OFAC also considered numerous mitigating factors, including (i) managers and supervisors were not aware of the conduct; (ii) the total harm caused was “significantly less than the total value of the transactions”; (iii) the bank cooperated with the investigation and entered into a retroactive agreement to toll the statutes of limitations; and (iv) the bank has implemented several steps as part of its risk-based compliance program to prevent future violations. OFAC also noted that the bank voluntary disclosed the violations, and that the violations constitute a non-egregious case.

    Financial Crimes OFAC Sanctions Iran Settlement Cuba

  • FinCEN issues advisory warning U.S. financial institutions of risks linked to Nicaraguan corruption

    Financial Crimes

    On October 4, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued advisory FIN-2018-A005 to U.S. financial institutions to increase awareness of the growing risk that certain Nicaraguan senior foreign political figures may potentially move assets using the U.S. financial system in reaction to a “perceived threat of further unrest, potential sanctions, or other factors.” FinCEN warns that the assets could be the proceeds of corruption and may be directed into U.S. accounts, or laundered through the U.S. financial system. The advisory—which is underscored by actions taken against Nicaraguan officials involved in corruption and human rights abuse pursuant to the Global Magnitsky sanctions program, as previously covered by InfoBytes—provides due diligence guidance for U.S. financial institutions consistent with existing Bank Secrecy Act obligations. It also reminds financial institutions of their suspicious activity report filing obligations and of the potential need to refer to advisory FIN-2018-A003 released last June on the use of financial facilitators to gain access to global financial systems for the purpose of moving or hiding illicit proceeds and evading U.S. and global sanctions. (See previous InfoBytes coverage here.) 

    Financial Crimes FinCEN Bank Secrecy Act SARs Anti-Money Laundering Sanctions

  • OFAC adds members of Venezuelan President Maduro’s inner circle to Specially Designated Nationals List

    Financial Crimes

    On September 25, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) made additions to the Specially Designated Nationals List pursuant to Executive Order 13692. OFAC’s additions to the list include four members of Venezuelan President Maduro’s inner circle, along with a “front network” identified as acting for or on behalf of a sanctioned member of the Maduro regime. According to OFAC, the additional sanctions are issued in response to the Maduro regime's continued “corruption and gross mismanagement.” As a result, all assets belonging to the identified individuals and entities subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons generally are prohibited from dealing with them.

    OFAC also referenced FinCEN advisories issued August and September 2017 (see previous InfoBytes coverage here and here) as a source for additional information on “the methods that Venezuelan senior political figures, their associates, and front persons use to move and hide corrupt proceeds,” including the potential for exploitation within the U.S. financial system and real estate market.

    See here for continuing InfoBytes coverage of actions related to Venezuela.

    Financial Crimes Department of Treasury OFAC Sanctions Venezuela

  • OFAC issues temporary extensions of Ukraine-related General Licenses

    Financial Crimes

    On September 21, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the issuance of Ukraine-related General Licenses (GL) 13D, 14A, and 16A, which amend previous licenses and extend the expiration date of those licenses from October 23 to November 12 for wind-down transactions relating to a specific list of companies and subsidiaries that otherwise would be prohibited by Ukraine-Related Sanctions Regulations. GL 13D supersedes GL 13C (see previous InfoBytes coverage here) and authorizes, among other things, (i) the divestiture of the holdings of specific blocked persons to a non-U.S. person; and (ii) the facilitation of transfers of debt, equity, or other holdings involving specified blocked persons to a non-U.S. person. GL 14A, which supersedes GL 14, relates to specific wind-down activities involving a Russian aluminum producer sanctioned last April (see previous InfoBytes coverage here). Finally, GL 16A supersedes GL 16 and authorizes, as previously covered by InfoBytes, the maintenance or wind down of operations, contracts, or other agreements that were in effect prior to April 6, 2018 and that involve a specific list of entities.

    Visit here for additional InfoBytes coverage on Ukraine sanctions.

    Financial Crimes OFAC Department of Treasury Sanctions Ukraine

  • President Trump issues Executive Order authorizing sanctions in the event of foreign interference in U.S. elections

    Financial Crimes

    On September 12, President Trump announced the issuance of Executive Order 13848 (E.O.), which authorizes sanctions against foreign persons found to have engaged in, assisted, or otherwise supported foreign interference in U.S. elections. Should an intelligence assessment determine such activity has occurred, Section 2 of the E.O. requires that transactions in property and interests of such interfering persons that are in the U.S. or under control of a U.S. person be blocked, and Section 3 of the E.O. directs the Secretaries of State and Treasury—in consultation with the heads of other appropriate agencies—to recommend to the President additional sanctions against “the largest business entities licensed or domiciled in a country whose government authorized, directed, sponsored, or supported election interference, including at least one entity from each of the following sectors: financial services, defense, energy, technology, and transportation.” Such additional sanctions may include, with respect to the targeted entities, (i) blocking all transactions related to property and interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction; (ii) prohibitions on U.S. financial institutions making loans or extending credit to identified entities; (iii) prohibitions on transfers of credit or payments between, by, or through financial institutions for the benefit of such an entity; and (iv) prohibitions on U.S. persons investing in equity or debt of such entities.

    Financial Crimes OFAC Department of Treasury Sanctions Executive Order Trump

  • OFAC reaches $1.5 million settlement with electronics company for alleged Iranian sanctions violations

    Financial Crimes

    On September 13, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $1.5 million settlement with a California-based electronics company for alleged violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations when it sold equipment to a Dubai-based distributor it knew or had reason to know distributed most, if not all, of its products to Iran. The settlement resolves litigation between the California company and OFAC stemming from a 2014 lawsuit challenging OFAC’s initial $4.07 million civil penalty. While the lower count ultimately granted summary judgment in favor of OFAC after finding enough evidence that the company knew the distributor’s business was primarily in Iran at the time the shipments were made, upon appeal, the D.C. Circuit reached a split decision in May 2017 setting aside OFAC’s initial penalty. While the appellate court affirmed that 34 of 39 shipments in question were in violation of the sanctions regulations, the company had produced emails indicating that the other shipments were intended for a retail store in Dubai. Because the penalty was calculated in such a way that the two shipments categories were “intertwined,” the court remanded the matter to OFAC for further consideration of the total penalty calculation.

    In arriving at the settlement amount, OFAC considered the following aggravating factors: (i) “the [a]lleged [v]iolations constituted or resulted in a systematic pattern of conduct”; (ii) the company exported goods valued at over $2.8 million; and (iii) the company had no compliance program in place at the time of the alleged violations. However, OFAC also considered mitigating factors such as the company’s status as a small business, the company not receiving a penalty or finding of a violation in the five years prior to the transactions at issue, and some cooperation with OFAC. OFAC further noted that following litigation, the company “took additional remedial actions to address the conduct that led to the [a]lleged [v]iolations, including terminating its relationship with [the Dubai-based distributor] and instituting an OFAC sanctions compliance program.”

    Financial Crimes Department of Treasury Sanctions OFAC Iran Courts Appellate Civil Money Penalties

  • OFAC adds North Korea-controlled information technology companies in China and Russia to Specially Designated Nationals List

    Financial Crimes

    On September 13, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it made additions to the Specially Designated Nationals List pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13722 and E.O. 13810. These additions identify one individual and two entities connected to illicit revenue earned by North Korea from overseas information technology (IT) workers. According to OFAC, the China and Russia-based front companies were actually managed and controlled by North Koreans, while the designated North Korean individual acted on behalf of the Chinese company. All designees were purported to have (i) “engaged in, facilitated, or been responsible for the exportation of workers from North Korea, including exportation to generate revenue for the Government of North Korea or the Workers’ Party of Korea”; and (ii) operated in the North Korean IT industry. As a result, all assets belonging to the identified individual and entities subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

    See here for previous InfoBytes coverage on North Korean sanctions.

    Financial Crimes OFAC Department of Treasury Sanctions North Korea China

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