Tag Archives: OFAC

OFAC Publishes New Guidance for the Virtual Currency Industry

The U.S Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has published guidance to aid members of the virtual currency industry (ranging from tech companies to brokers to users) in complying with OFAC requirements. OFAC defines “virtual currency” to encompass non-sovereign, non-fiat currencies that can be used as a store of value or as a medium of exchange—a category inclusive of most cryptocurrencies, including common tokens such as Bitcoin or Ether.… More

Ransomware Payments – OFAC Updates its Advisory and Congress Gets Involved

Ransomware payments continue to be a focus of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). As previously reported by Foley Hoag, on October 1, 2020, OFAC released an advisory regarding potential sanctions risks related to facilitating ransomware payments. Almost a year later, on September 21, 2021, OFAC updated its advisory to provide additional guidance regarding what OFAC considers to be mitigating factors if facilitating a ransomware payment results in an apparent violation of U.S.… More

Sanctions/Export Controls Trends in 2021

This is the second in our First 100 Days series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations in the early days of the Biden administration. Our previous entry discussed SEC enforcement. Up next, anti-corruption trends.

The recent change in administrations has generated much discussion about what to expect in the worlds of export controls and sanctions in 2021.  In general,… More