OFAC Trade Sanctions Compliance

Mr. Bilaniuk has wide-ranging experience counseling on trade sanctions and embargoes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  He regularly handles the difficult regulatory interpretive issues clients in a range of industries face as they strive to comply with the myriad OFAC list-based and comprehensive sanctions programs.

OFAC Counseling and Licensing

• Advised companies in various industries on protecting IP, in-process transactions, and wind-down of operations in the Russian Federation and scope of OFAC general licenses after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the promulgation of the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations; advised on related ESG issues.
• Advised companies on legally structuring transactions for various manufactured goods and IT services in compliance with Venezuela sectoral sanctions and Ukraine/Russia-related sectoral sanctions.
• Advised on and applied for licenses to OFAC for companies across industries for products and services under Iran and Russia sanctions programs.
• Counseled on compliance with facilitation and evading sanctions provisions in various OFAC sanctions programs including for Iran, Syria, Burma, Sudan, and Cuba, for clients in a range of industries and in various scenarios including with respect to parent and subsidiary companies, and to affiliated companies.
• Counseled range of clients such as data services providers and publishers on information/informational materials exception across multiple OFAC sanctions programs.
• Counseled on compliance with Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Company (CMIC) non-SDN List sanctions and regulations.
• Counseled international technology company on Cuban OFAC sanctions compliance and pursuing business opportunities in Cuba.
• Counseled on complex transactions involving Syrian entities about the applicability of a general license under then-existing Sudan OFAC sanctions.
• Counseled technology device manufacturer about scope of a certain OFAC Iran general license and for what activities a specific license would still be required.
• Advised on issues such as OFAC’s “Fifty Percent” rule and the scope of general licenses for agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices under various sanctions programs.

OFAC Compliance Investigations

• Conducted internal investigation and advised manufacturer in matter triggered by regulator’s inquiry about client’s internet-based customer support interface indicating customers in Iran, the Crimea region of Ukraine, and other sanctioned countries.

• Conducted internal investigation for IT company, identified OFAC sanctions violations and prepared resulting voluntary disclosure report to OFAC.

• Conducted internal investigation concerning Canadian subsidiary of U.S. service provider and advised service provider about Cuban OFAC sanctions compliance issues and blocking statute issues for its subsidiary.  Matter required parallel involvement of Canadian and European counsel.

• Conducted internal investigations for financial service companies concerning transactions with certain Iranian nationals and the scope of the OFAC definition of the Government of Iran; assessed compliance policies and made recommendations.

• Conducted internal investigation for manufacturer sourcing materials from Chinese company amidst concerns about sub-tier supplier sourcing from a Chinese company designated on the Global Magnitsky List for human right violations against the Uyghur minority in China.