Questions Abound on Foreign Aid Bill Change to Sanctions Violations Lookbacks

Questions Abound on Foreign Aid Bill Change to Sanctions Violations Lookbacks

April 30, 2024, Compliance Week

Eric Sandberg-Zakian’s commentary was included in a Compliance Week article examining a recent change to U.S. sanctions law that permits the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to now look back 10 years to investigate potential violations of U.S. sanctions, rather than five years.

While companies await OFAC guidance on the new rule, Eric provides his insight that companies will want to know if they will be required to keep records for 10 years instead of five. “This rule raises the possibility that OFAC’s (recordkeeping) expectations will change,” he said.

Eric added that firms will have to determine whether they should change their policies and procedures regarding recordkeeping to meet the new demand. “Will we see subpoenas from OFAC asking for 10 years worth of documentation?” he asked.