The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Controls (“OFAC”) oversees economic and trade sanctions against specific countries or individuals to which U.S. foreign policy and national security goals are of concern by the government. Thus, a U.S. person or company cannot engage in business activity with an entity listed under OFAC without a license.
There are two types of OFAC licenses; a general license and a specific license. A general license authorizes a type of transaction for a class of persons and/or goods without the need to apply for a license. However, you must strictly adhere to the limitations of the general license as listed in the regulations. A specific license is a document issued by OFAC to an entity authorizing a specific transaction. You may need a combination of a general and specific license or more than type license to conduct a particular transaction.
Failure to comply can result in civil and criminal penalties. Our firm assists in compliance with OFAC laws, preparing and submitting license applications, voluntary disclosures, and filing petitions when OFAC violations are alleged.