The United States Treasury maintains and oversees the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The OFAC is concerned with enforcing both trade and economic regulations. In many cases, these regulations may apply to businesses, which must carefully follow OFAC rules.

Of course, in order to do so, OFAC training is necessary. This type of training will clarify the ins and outs of OFAC regulations and help you to ensure your business is meeting them. With that said, though, these regulations can be a bit complex, which is why it's necessary to fully understand them and how they apply to you.

The OFAC Doesn't Stand Alone

You might think that, as a US business, you only have to abide by the specific rules put in place by the OFAC itself.

And, while it's true that you do need to follow OFAC regulations, it's also true that the OFAC is made up of smaller branches, each with its own rules and regulations to follow.

These branches include:

• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
• The National Credit Union Administrative Examiners
• The Federal Reserve Board

These are actually just a few of many other branches of the OFAC. However, it's up to you to be familiar with each branch and its regulations. This means doing your research and seeking professional help and training that aids in identifying and abiding by all the rules as they apply to each business.

There Are Risks Involved

The OFAC understands that each business has a certain level of risk when it comes to breaching OFAC protocols and other federal trade protocols.

They don't ask companies to be completely risk-free because that would be unrealistic. What they do ask, however, is that companies have taken verifiable steps to assess their risk and, from there, steps to address the areas in which they are considered high-risk.

All of this means that, while your business doesn't have to be perfect, it should be able to demonstrate that it is striving to lessen risk overall and to address identified risks. Training is a perfect way to showcase just that.

Serious Penalties Exist

If you blatantly ignore or do not follow OFAC rules, there could be some serious consequences in store for you.

Corporations can be fined millions of dollars per verified violation count against them, with individuals being charged only slightly less.

As you can see, OFAC is serious, and violating its rules is even more serious. Thus, educate yourself on OFAC regulations through qualified training and ensure that you are following these requirements as carefully and thoroughly as possible.

Share