On February 20, 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published two new FAQs relating to reporting, procedures and penalties regulations (RPPR). The two new FAQs relate to the 6/21/19 amendment to the RPPR.
The two new FAQs are as follows:
819. Is the June 21, 2019 amendment to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)’s Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations in effect? Am I required to comply with all requirements of the amended regulations?
Yes, effective June 21, 2019, OFAC amended the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations, 31 CFR part 501 (RPPR), to provide updated instructions and incorporate new requirements for parties filing reports on blocked property, unblocked property, or rejected transactions. In addition, this rule includes information regarding OFAC’s electronic license application procedures and provides additional instructions regarding applications for the release of blocked funds.
OFAC expects all U.S. persons and persons otherwise subject to U.S. jurisdiction, including parties that are not U.S. financial institutions, to comply fully with all requirements of this rule, including the expanded requirement in Section 501.604 of the RPPR to provide reports to OFAC regarding rejected transactions within 10 business days of the rejected transaction. (Previously, only U.S. financial institutions were required to submit reports to OFAC for rejected funds transfers.) Reports on rejected transactions are to be submitted to OFAC, preferably electronically, as specified by OFAC’s Reporting and License Application Forms webpage.
OFAC accepted comments from the public on this rule, which it continues to review. In addition, OFAC welcomes further feedback as we assess whether any clarification or modification to the rule is appropriate, including: additional information regarding the business impact of this rule; examples of rejected transactions that are proving challenging to report; the quantity of rejected transactions; and the types of information in the filer’s possession for a rejected transaction report. Feedback and questions regarding the rule should be submitted to OFAC’s Compliance Division by email at: OFAC_Feedback@treasury.gov. [02-20-2020]
820. I am required to submit a rejected transaction report to OFAC, but I do not have all the information that is required to be reported pursuant to 31 CFR § 501.604(b). Am I required to collect such information from my counterparty just to complete my rejected transaction report?
OFAC expects U.S. persons and persons otherwise subject to U.S. jurisdiction to provide all information required by Section 501.604(b) of the RPPR that is in the filer’s possession in a rejected transaction report, and generally does not expect reporters to seek further information from their counterparty solely to obtain additional information required to be reported under Section 501.604(b). However, OFAC would expect at a minimum that all rejected transaction reports include required information that is applicable in all reject scenarios (e.g., information regarding the submitter of the report, the date the transaction was rejected, the legal authority or authorities under which the transaction was rejected, and any relevant documentation received in connection with the transaction). [02-20-2020]
The entire OFAC FAQ list can be found here.