The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has issued an interim final rule to extend OFAC’s recordkeeping requirements for certain transactions from 5 to 10 years. This development mirrors the recent extension of the statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (“TWEA”) to 10 years. Civil enforcement actions brought by OFAC for violations of IEEPA or TWEA were previously subject to a 5 year statute of limitations until the extension was made effective on April 24, 2024. Our blog post regarding this prior extension is available here.
Effective March 12, 2025, the interim final rule will extend OFAC’s recordkeeping requirements from 5 years to 10 years. This means that persons engaged in transactions subject to OFAC-administered sanctions programs will be required to keep full and accurate records of such transactions they engage in regardless of whether they are effected pursuant to a general or specific license, and must retain such records for at least 10 years after the date of such transactions.
Persons holding blocked property are already required to keep a full and accurate record of such property, and following the effective dates, these records will also need to be available for examination for at least 10 years after the date such property is unblocked. OFAC is seeking public comments on the interim final rule by October 15, 2024.
