Office of Foreign Assets Control

US Sanctions on Iran and their Impact on India

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against foreign countries, regimes, terrorists, and similar forces that are engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other acts that may be considered as threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States of America (US).

The nature of sanctions imposed by the US is two pronged, i.e. Primary and Secondary.  Primary sanctions are in the nature of asset freezing, trade embargos, and a prohibition on US citizens and companies from engaging with Iran. Secondary sanctions place an embargo on third-party countries, its citizens and companies with no nexus to the US, for dealing with sanctioned countries. Secondary sanctions are invariably extra-territorial in nature and raise important questions about legitimacy, international law principles, and the concept of sovereignty.
Continue Reading US Sanctions on Iran and their Impact on India

Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments

The past year has witnessed a massive increase in sanctions-related enforcement activity and has indeed caused a stir in the global sanctions landscape. Under the new administration, the US re-imposed all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, culminating in the largest ever single set of sanctions designations to date.

With the heightened global regulatory environment and the aggressive stance of enforcement agencies, it has been made rather clear that sanctions laws can no longer be ignored. Moreover, in an attempt to bring clarity to compliance expectations of the sanctions regime in the US, on May 02, 2019, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published the Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments (Framework). The Framework sets out OFAC’s key considerations for evaluating the efficacy of a sanctions compliance programme (SCP) and in turn determining whether mitigation of civil monetary penalties ought to be granted.
Continue Reading Are You Ready to Make a Commitment? A Glimpse into the Newly Introduced OFAC Compliance Commitments