OFAC Civil Penalties Information Available Online
March 2005
We continue to be surprised how few export compliance administrators are aware that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) now publishes summary civil penalty enforcement data each month even though we first reported on it nearly two years ago. No, they don’t splash it on their homepage like the insecure attention-seekers at BIS, but it’s still not that hard to find. You can locate these useful treasure troves of noncompliance on OFAC’s website at www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/civpen/penalties/.
In addition to the enormous number of settlements with individuals for travel related transactions in Cuba listed in the March report (a total of 113), we learn that the Bank of New York was penalized to the tune of $4,650 for a funds transfer involving a narcotics kingpin. But that’s chump change compared to the $31,787.14 penalty OFAC levied on Lufthansa, who was apparently denied even the basic courtesy or rounding to a whole dollar amount.
Whether you read it for the salacious corporate details or just a sense of where OFAC’s enforcement efforts are focused (hint: it rhymes with “scuba”), be sure to read it. New civil penalties data is usually published within the first few business days of each month.
