President Donald Trump kicked off an active day on social media with posts on two of his favorite themes: bashing ex-media allies and proclaiming the United States the "HOTTEST" country,  before turning his attention to world affairs to announce Iran's reopening of the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of choking off a critical sea trade route.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Thursday on a group of Nicaraguan officials, companies and individuals tied to the country’s gold industry and accused of helping sustain the government of President Daniel Ortega and his co-president and spouse, Rosario Murillo.

President Trump has nominated finance executive Erin Browne to serve as Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs. Ms. Browne is a managing director and portfolio manager at Pacific …

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two casinos in northern Mexico that the government has linked to a violent drug cartel, marking the Trump administration's …

With U.S. shoppers’ grocery bills ever more in focus as the holidays near, a range of food and agriculture trade moves made headlines this week, starting with the news that tariffs may wipe Italian pasta makers off U.S. grocery store shelves.  

During his five-year run in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, former Assistant General Counsel for International Affairs Ted Posner helped guide the creation of the outbound investment security program and manage Treasury's leadership role in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Now that he's back in the private sector as the head of Trade Risk Mitigation and National Security at Baker Botts LLP, The Export Practitioner caught up with Posner to talk tips for staying out of CFIUS's crosshairs and the government's evolving approach to IEEPA.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions Wednesday targeting key figures in the Mexico-based Cartel del Noreste (CDN), including three senior leaders and a high-profile rap artist.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) has formally requested additional guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding its final rule extending recordkeeping requirements to ten years for sanctions compliance purposes.

The Treasury Department announced sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to oil smuggling and narcotics trafficking networks linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The action aligns with the Administration’s focus on southwest border enforcement and the financial disruption of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated three Mexican nationals and two Mexico-based companies for their roles in smuggling crude oil stolen from Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) into the United States. 

Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has updated its License Application Portal. In addition to the current application process, the License Application Portal now features an option to establish an account to submit requests for specific licenses or interpretive guidance, or submit reports required by some specific licenses.

Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is releasing the third video in its "OFAC Basics" video series, "Applying for a License to Release Blocked Funds."  This video provides viewers with guidance and the recommended steps for how to submit a specific license application for the release of blocked funds.  The “OFAC Basics” series serves as a companion series to the "Introduction to the OFAC" series.

The International Trade and National Security group of Morgan Lewis brings to our attention the following: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that immutable smart contracts on Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency transaction protocol, are not “property” under the jurisdiction of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This decision restricts OFAC’s ability to sanction Tornado Cash based on such contracts. The court relied on the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, emphasizing that immutable smart contracts lack traditional characteristics of property, such as ownership and control.

OFAC is amending the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations (RPPR). the May 2024 Interim Final Rule requiring reports witin 10 business days of when blocked property is unblocked or transferred, This final rule adds three exceptions to the reporting requirement for any blocked property that is unblocked or transferred.

Additionally, OFAC put on public inspection Interim Final Rule to Extend Recordkeeping Requirements from Five to 10 Years, consistent with the extension of the statute of limitations for violations of certain sanctions administered by OFAC. OFAC also put on public inspection a Comment Request for Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations and Other Information Collections Maintained by OFAC for comments concerning OFAC's information requirements.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced several initiatives underway aimed at assisting the public with sanctions implementation . As part of these efforts, OFAC is …

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is updating its Compliance Hotline by streamlining and enhancing the query submission process.. OFAC is transitioning to a single, user-friendly online platform to receive questions from the public. Users can now submit queries—and provide all necessary details—directly through OFAC’s new OFAC Compliance Hotline page.

OFAC announced a $7,452,501 settlement with State Street Bank and Trust Company on behalf of itself and its subsidiary, Charles River Systems, Inc.  State Street agreed to settle its potential civil liability for 38 apparent violations of OFAC's Ukraine-/Russia-Related sanctions. The apparent violations involved invoices that were redated or reissued by Charles River between 2016 and 2020 for certain customers who were subject to Directive 1 of Executive Order 13662, as well as certain payments outside of the applicable debt tenor (maturity range) accepted by Charles River from these customers.

Other OFAC enforccement actions this week targeted ISIS facilitators in several African states, rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Guatemalan human smuggling network, and two members of Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion and related firms involved in the fentanly trade.

All financial institutions at which Russian sovereign assets are located, and that know or should know of such assets, must provide notice of such assets to OFAC no later than August 2, 2024

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today released guidance addressing questions raised by recent legislation that extended the statute of limitations for violations of certain sanctions that the agency administers.   As explained in the guidance, OFAC may now commence an enforcement action for civil violations of International Emergency Economic Powers Act- or Trading with Enemy Act-based sanctions prohibitions within 10 years of the latest date of the violation if such date was after April 24, 2019. To match the new statute of limitations period, OFAC anticipates publishing an interim final rule, with an opportunity to provide comment, extending from five years to 10 years the recordkeeping requirements codified at 31 C.F.R. § 501.601.