OFAC Clearance

The United States has been known to use its leverage over international markets to protect national security and promote its interests overseas. In many cases, it uses economic sanctions against threatening parties to do this. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury is the federal agency in charge of enforcing these trade embargoes and economic sanctions.

If OFAC has targeted you, your company, or an important business partner for economic sanctions, it can be crippling. The good news is that it is not necessarily final. While getting taken off OFAC’s list of sanctioned parties – a process known as OFAC clearance – is not easy, it can be done.

The OFAC lawyers at the national law firm Oberheiden P.C. have a growing track record of successes in getting OFAC to remove targeted companies and individuals from its list of sanctioned parties.

OFAC Frequently Removes Companies and Individuals from SDN Lists

OFAC enforces American sanctions against targeted countries, individuals, companies, and organizations. This encompasses everything from:

• Individual people
• Specific companies
• Sectors or industries within a country
• Entire countries
• Individual terrorists and terrorist organizations
• Drug traffickers and cartels

Collectively, these parties that are targeted by American economic sanctions are known as “Specially Designated Nationals,” or SDNs. Parties who are sanctioned have their assets frozen and are prohibited from doing business with U.S. persons without authorization from OFAC.

To help domestic people and companies avoid doing business with SDNs, OFAC compiles the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. People and parties who are on these SDN lists are likely to see huge consequences as wide swaths of the economy suddenly become off limits to them.

However, OFAC recognizes that times and circumstances change. The agency claims that it removes hundreds of individuals and entities from the SDN list each year. Each removal, or clearance, involves a thorough review by OFAC personnel. Importantly, though, this means that each removal is largely within the discretion of OFAC agents. While the agency insists that it uses consistent standards for the clearance process and that each clearance is done on the merits, there are often so many different factors at play that it would be easy for the agency to justify its decision, no matter what it may be.

Put our highly experienced team on your side

Dr. Nick Oberheiden

Founder

Attorney-at-Law

Lynette S. Byrd

Former DOJ Trial Attorney

Partner

Brian J. Kuester

Former U.S. Attorney

Hon. Kevin McCarthy

55th Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives (ret.)

Government Consultant

Mike Pompeo

Of Counsel

Former U.S. Secretary of State

John W. Sellers

Former Senior DOJ Trial Attorney

Linda Julin McNamara

Federal Appeals Attorney

Nicholas B. Johnson

Former Prosecutor

Roger Bach

Former Special Agent (DOJ)

Chris J. Quick

Former Special Agent (FBI & IRS-CI)

Michael S. Koslow

Former Supervisory Special Agent (DOD-OIG)

Ray Yuen

Former Supervisory Special Agent (FBI)

The OFAC Clearance Process

The process for getting OFAC sanctions cleared for you, your business, or a business associate from the SDN list is laid out in 31 C.F.R. § 501.807. Also known as the Administrative Reconsideration Process, there are five general steps:

1. Finding out exactly why you are on the SDN list,
2. Determining which grounds to use in support of your removal from the SDN list,
3. Preparing and submitting the application,
4. Answering questionnaires sent by OFAC for follow-up information, and
5. The OFAC interview.

Having skilled and experienced OFAC lawyers on your side can help at each stage of this process.

Determine Why You are on the SDN List

There are numerous reasons for the U.S. to impose sanctions on someone or a company. Determining exactly why you are the target of economic sanctions is essential for getting them cleared.

This generally starts with any press release that OFAC issued when it first imposed the sanctions that you are trying to remove. If there is a press release for your particular case, it can be wise to review it. If there are still questions or if more information is needed to move forward with confidence, you can send OFAC a Request for Administrative Record to obtain the evidentiary memos from the OFAC investigation that led to your sanctions. While classified information will be redacted, what you can read can be extremely important for making an informed decision about how to proceed.

Decide Which Argument for Removal is Best for You

Once you know why the sanctions are in place, you and your OFAC attorney can decide what is going to be the best argument for getting them removed. A few common arguments are:

• The sanctions should have been imposed on another person and you are the victim of mistaken identity
• The circumstances justifying the sanctions are no longer present
• You have divested from the company under sanction
• Your company has taken adequate measures to stop the conduct that led to the sanctioning

Whatever rationale you choose, you need to know that OFAC is not going to simply take you at your word. You need to include evidentiary support for your argument for clearance.

Prepare and Submit the Application for Clearance

The next step is to write and submit your Petition for Removal. It can be mailed or submitted via email to OFAC. The request should include:

• The listed person’s name and the contact person’s name and both his or her mailing and email address
• The date of the OFAC listing action at issue
• The formal request for reconsideration of OFAC’s sanctions, along with a detailed description of why the sanctions should be cleared

OFAC generally acknowledges the receipt of these Petitions within seven business days, if it was submitted by email, or within 15 business days, if it was submitted by mail.

Answer Follow-Up Questions from OFAC

In some cases, OFAC determines that it does not have enough information to decide whether to clear the sanctions or not based on the Petition, alone. When this happens, the agency will send a questionnaire for the petitioner to answer, often within 90 days of the receipt of the original Petition.

How you answer these questions can make or break your petition for clearance.

The OFAC Interview

As a part of your petition for clearance, you can request a hearing or interview with OFAC agents. This is often a great opportunity to press your case for removal by making it stand out in ways that the documentary petitions fail to do.

Frequently Asked Questions About OFAC Clearance and Oberheiden P.C.

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The OFAC Clearance Attorneys at Oberheiden P.C. Get Results

All told, the process for getting cleared from OFAC sanctions is a long one. While it is ongoing, you will still have to deal with all of the consequences of being on the SDN list. It is essential to get removed the first time through the process.

The OFAC clearance attorneys at Oberheiden P.C. have developed a track record of successful clearance petitions. Contact them online or call their national hotline at (888) 680-1745 to get started.