OFAC Issues Guidance About New Ten-Year Statute Of Limitations For Violations (Mistake Or Intentional)- Including For Cuba.
/“U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL (22 July 2024)
Enforcement Release: July 22, 2024 GUIDANCE ON EXTENSION OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
This guidance addresses questions raised by recent legislation that extended the statute of limitations for violations of certain sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
On April 24, 2024, the President signed into law the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act, Pub. L. No. 118-50, div. D (the “Act”). Section 3111 of the Act extends from five years to 10 years the statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) or the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA).
Prior to the Act’s enactment, civil enforcement actions brought by OFAC under IEEPA or TWEA were subject to the five-year statute of limitations set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 2462. The new 10-year statute of limitations—codified at 50 U.S.C. §§ 1705(d) and 4315(d)—became effective upon the President’s signature on April 24, 2024.
The Act states that “an action, suit or proceeding for the enforcement of any civil fine, penalty, or forfeiture, pecuniary or otherwise” brought under IEEPA or TWEA “shall not be entertained unless commenced within 10 years after the latest date of the violation upon which the civil fine, penalty, or forfeiture is based.”
This new 10-year statute of limitations applies to any violation that was not time-barred at the time of its enactment. Consequently, OFAC may now commence an enforcement action for civil violations of IEEPA- or TWEA-based sanctions prohibitions within 10 years of the latest date of the violation if such date was after April 24, 2019.
As set forth in the Act, the commencement of a civil enforcement action includes the issuance of a pre penalty notice or a finding of violation.
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. OFAC anticipates that a 10-year recordkeeping requirement would become effective six months after publication of the interim final rule.”
LINK TO RELATED ANALYSIS
“Important Announcement for Users of OFAC’s Compliance Hotline (2 August 2024)
To improve efficiency in responding to requests for sanctions guidance from the public, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is updating its Compliance Hotline by streamlining and enhancing the query submission process.
Thanks to helpful feedback from Compliance Hotline users, 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. This new platform is designed to improve OFAC’s tracking of queries and help OFAC assess when additional public guidance may be helpful.
OFAC will fully transition its Compliance Hotline to this web form platform by January 1, 2025, and will retire other existing forms of contacting the OFAC Compliance Hotline according to the following schedule: OFAC will retire the Compliance Hotline email (OFAC_Feedback@treasury.gov) on August 16, 2024; and its Compliance Hotline telephone (1-800-540-6322 and 202-622-2490) on December 31, 2024.
Please submit questions about how to comply with OFAC-administered sanctions programs or where to find helpful guidance on OFAC’s website via the new online OFAC Compliance Hotline.
As a reminder, please continue to use OFAC’s License Application page for license applications and requests for formal interpretive guidance. Other information about contacting OFAC, including where to submit voluntary self-disclosures or appeal designations, can be found on our Contact OFAC page. For more information on this specific action, please visit our Recent Actions page.”
