Office of Foreign Assets Control

Office of Foreign Assets Control
Agency overview
FormedDecember 1950
Preceding agency
  • Office of Foreign Funds Control
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
EmployeesApproximately 200 (2013)[1]
Annual budget$30.9 million (2013)
Agency executive
Parent departmentDepartment of the Treasury
Websiteofac.treasury.gov

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives.[2] Under presidential national emergency powers, OFAC carries out its activities against foreign governments, organizations (including terrorist groups and drug cartels), and individuals deemed a threat to U.S. national security.[3]

Founded in 1950 as the Division of Foreign Assets Control, since 2004 OFAC has operated under the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence within the Treasury Department. It is primarily composed of intelligence targeters and lawyers. While many of OFAC's targets are broadly set by the White House, most individual cases are developed as a result of investigations by OFAC's Office of Global Targeting (OGT).[4]

Sometimes described as one of the "most powerful yet unknown" government agencies,[4][5] OFAC has the power to levy significant penalties against entities that defy its directives, including imposing fines, freezing assets, and barring parties from operating in the U.S.

  1. ^ Klimasinska, Kasia, Dakin Campbell and Ian Katz. Banks Woo Treasury Sanctions Pros to Navigate Complex U.S. Rules, Bloomberg, August 13, 2014.
  2. ^ Tom C.W. Lin (April 2016). "Financial Weapons of War" (PDF). Minnesota Law Review. 100 (4): 1377–1440.
  3. ^ Zarate, Juan C. (2013). Treasury's War. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610391153.
  4. ^ a b Yukhananov, Anna, and Warren Strobel, "After Success on Iran, U.S. Treasury's Sanctions Team Faces New Challenges", Reuters, April 14, 2014.
  5. ^ Rubenfeld, Samuel. "OFAC Rises as Sanctions Become A Major Policy Tool", Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2014