OFAC Extends Recordkeeping Requirements to 10 Years

Enforcement Edge: Shining Light on Government Enforcement

By Junghyun Baek Trevor G. Schmitt John P. Barker Soo-Mi Rhee Baruch Weiss Tal R. Machnes Nicholas L. Townsend

As readers of Enforcement Edge are aware, on April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act (the Act), which extended from five years to 10 years the statute of limitations for bringing civil and criminal enforcement actions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA). The U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) previously had issued guidance on the Act’s effect, in which it stated that it planned to publish an interim final rule to extend the recordkeeping requirements to 10 years.

On September 11, 2024, OFAC issued an interim final rule amending the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations and the Cuban Assets Controls Regulations to extend from five to 10 years the recordkeeping requirements for transactions subject to OFAC regulations. The rule takes effect on March 12, 2025. Interested parties may submit comments on or before October 15, 2024.

In light of the new provisions of the Act, as well as the subsequent guidance issued by OFAC, 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. The same is true for any criminal enforcement action by the Department of Justice. With OFAC’s new interim rule, the recordkeeping requirements now align with the statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations.

For questions about the rule or other export controls or sanctions matters, contact the authors or any of their colleagues in Arnold & Porter’s White Collar Defense & Investigations or Export Control & Sanctions practice groups.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2024 All Rights Reserved. This Blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.