OFAC
The U.S. Treasury office that administers and enforces economic sanctions programs against targeted countries, entities, and individuals.
What is OFAC?
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of Treasury that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions programs based on U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives. OFAC maintains the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list—a roster of individuals, companies, and vessels with whom U.S. persons are generally prohibited from transacting. Financial institutions, corporations, and individuals subject to U.S. jurisdiction must screen their transactions and counterparties against the SDN list. Violations of OFAC sanctions can result in severe civil and criminal penalties regardless of whether the violator knew of the sanctions.
Example
A U.S. bank processes a wire transfer for a client sending $50,000 to a business in Venezuela. Before executing the transaction, the bank's sanctions screening system identifies the recipient company on OFAC's SDN list. Under strict liability, the bank must block the transaction and file a report with OFAC—even if the client was unaware the counterparty was sanctioned. Proceeding would expose the bank to penalties up to $1 million per violation.
Source: U.S. Treasury — OFAC