Counseling and Advice on OFAC Sanctions
The OFAC lawyers at Ferrari & Associates routinely counsel clients on OFAC administered sanctions programs, including the scope of sanctions prohibitions, the extent of OFAC general licenses, and the sanctionable risk attendant in engaging in certain types of dealings with sanctioned parties or sectors. This counseling often results in the production of an advisory opinion that will assess the facts of a particular proposed transaction or relationship, set out the OFAC sanctions authorities implicated by those dealings, and assess whether the conduct is permissible or prohibited, or if the dealings will expose the parties to sanctionable risk. These opinion letters often inform a business risk decision as to whether to engage in certain dealings, particularly, when there are misconceptions as to what is prohibited (i.e., subjects the party to a civil or criminal penalty) versus what is sanctionable (i.e., not prohibited, but could lead to a sanctions designation). Ferrari & Associates drafts these types of advisory opinions on a daily basis for clients across industry sectors. These advisory opinions are often relied upon by our clients to properly assess the risk arising from OFAC sanctions with respect to a particular course of dealings, thereby giving them insight into whether they will significantly expose themselves to liability for those dealings or if they are over-complying with OFAC sanctions by foregoing the dealings. As obtaining guidance from OFAC with respect to a proposed transaction or relationship can be a lengthy process that yields very little in terms of substantive guidance, clients often need these advisory opinions to make business decisions in real-time. Thus, our OFAC lawyers turn around advisory opinions quickly in order for your business to be able to assess the risks of entering into certain transactions that may expose it to sanctions risk. Let us put our experience and knowledge to work for you so that you can make an appropriate sanctions risk decision within a timeframe that makes sense for your business.