OFAC, Commerce, and DOJ Emphasize Pursuit Of Enforcement Actions Against Non-U.S. Persons and Entities

The guidance mirrors the recent, broader impulse among U.S. prosecutors and regulatory agencies to extend application of U.S. law to foreign persons and entities, even when those persons and entities have only threadbare connections to the U.S. As discussed below, almost 40% of OFAC's publicly announced settlements over the past three years have been against non-U.S. actors, including some settlements that involved the payments of hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties.

The Tri-Seal Compliance Note makes clear that OFAC's sanctions enforcement dovetails with the country's broader national security and foreign policy interests, including the U.S.'s interest in preventing "malign regimes and other bad actors" from "misus[ing] the commercial and financial channels that facilitate foreign trade." (See, Compliance Note at 1). Foreign companies should brace themselves for legal exposure on multiple fronts, with DOJ, BIS, and OFAC likely to coordinate their efforts against non-U.S. persons. In this article, we discuss the increased trend of global enforcement, examine some of the high-profile cases, and consider what non-U.S. companies and individuals can do to prevent becoming the next target of OFAC or DOJ enforcement of U.S. sanctions programs.