U.S. OFAC amendments to Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations
Requires electronic filing of certain submissions to OFAC
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued an interim final rule to amend the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations.
The rule requires electronic filing of certain submissions to OFAC and describes and modifies certain reporting requirements related to blocked property and rejected transactions.
Specifically, the interim final rule would:
- Require use of the electronic OFAC Reporting System for submission of reports related to blocked property and rejected transactions
- Remove the mail option for certain other types of OFAC submissions
- Describe reports OFAC may require from financial institutions for transactions that meet specified criteria
- Add a reporting requirement for any blocked property that is unblocked or transferred
OFAC is also:
- Clarifying the scope of the reporting requirement for rejected transactions
- Modifying the procedures for requests relating to property that is blocked in error
- Updating the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations with respect to the availability of information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for certain categories of records.
- Clarifying that persons may submit a petition for administrative reconsideration to seek removal of a person or property from the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons or any other list of sanctioned persons maintained by OFAC
- Adding a description of reports OFAC may require financial institutions to provide about transactions that meet specified criteria to aid in the identification of blocked property
Several technical and conforming edits have been made and OFAC is seeking public comments, which are due by the date that is 30 days after publication in the Federal Register (scheduled to be May 10, 2024).
The interim final rule is effective 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.