how ofac works
ofac enforces sanctions that were imposed by the u s government based on its foreign policy and national security objectives according to this federal agency those policies are aimed at foreign nations terrorists and narcotics traffickers who pose a threat to the national security or economy of the u s this includes entities that stockpile weapons of mass destruction 1the agency s actions are usually authorized by congressional legislation however the president of the united states can use national emergency powers to perform certain actions such as freezing foreign assets that fall under u s jurisdiction 2in addition ofac imposes sanctions based on mandates by the united nations these are often carried out in cooperation with allied nations the use of sanctions and other punitive trade policies are used to persuade a nation or group to change some behavior that is seen as detrimental to the international community 2the policies are intended to disrupt the economy and everyday life of the nations or groups violating international norms it is a way to pressure a country to conform to acceptable standards of behavior short of actual armed conflict for example if a terrorist group is known to fund its activities through the sale of a commodity on the international market sanctions might be introduced to disrupt this revenue source ofac s efforts on this front could reduce the group s ability to support the training of new recruits and the acquisition of weapons a threat of sanctions currently exists against any nation or entity that seeks to interfere with a u s election 3nations under sanctionsif a belligerent country were to invade a neighboring country trade and other assets could be frozen ofac would take charge of enforcing these sanctions which might compel the belligerent country to halt its actions or at least agree to talks to end the conflict programs administered by ofac have included sanctions on iran north korea cuba syria and russia 4 the agency has taken action against individuals such as drug traffickers by blocking assets owned by the criminals 5another on the list is a 2018 executive order that threatens sanctions against any foreign nation that seeks to interfere with a u s election 6in 2023 the u s has a long list of countries under u s sanctions from the balkans to zimbabwe other sanctions relate to any nation or group conducting specific criminal activities such as cyber terrorism and narcotics trafficking 4sanctions on russiaone of the most widely known sanctions is against russia ordered in response to the russian incursion into ukraine that began in 2014 7in early 2022 additional sanctions were imposed on russia in response to russia s military aggression against ukraine 8 russia moved troops into the two separatist regions of eastern ukraine and engaged in military operations throughout the country u s president joe biden responded on feb 22 2022 by announcing sanctions that initially blocked two state owned russian financial institutions vnesheconombank and promsvyazbank and their subsidiaries which provide financing to the russian military 9 however on feb 24 2022 sanctions were expanded in scope to include other russian financial institutions including the two largest banks sberbank and vtb bank blocking access to the u s financial system 8sanctions were imposed prohibiting u s companies and individuals from buying both new and existing russian sovereign debt in the secondary market russian elites and their families have been financially targeted while export controls have been established to block russia s importing of technological goods 109