Client Alert: DOJ and OFAC Actions Showcase Expansive U.S. Oversight of Foreign Conduct
We counsel companies and individuals on a wide array of issues arising under the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions programs, including both nation-based and conduct-based sanctions.
For more than a century, the United States has used trade restrictions on foreign nations and individuals to promote the foreign policy objectives of the United States. The task of implementing sanctions now falls to OFAC. Generally speaking, the President, in accordance with statute, will issue an Executive Order designating some country, company or individual as subject to sanctions. OFAC will then issue guidance with respect to the Executive Order and any Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs). American entities are then prohibited from conducting business with those entities under most circumstances.
Although the sanctions prohibit American entities from engaging in commercial transactions with SDNs, they can have a much broader effect. Secondary sanctions apply to entirely non-U.S. entities operating completely outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. Entities that deal with SDN’s can themselves become SDNs or Foreign Sanctions Evaders (FSE). Once an entity is identified as a SDN or a FSE, Americans are prohibited from conducting business with that entity, as well.
We are experienced advisors on: