§ 505.405 Findings of Violation.
(a) When issued. (1) OFAC may issue an initial Finding of Violation that identifies a violation if OFAC:
(i) Determines that there has occurred a violation of any provision of the applicable part of this chapter, or a violation of the provisions of any regulation, ruling, instruction, order, directive, or license issued by or pursuant to the direction or authorization of the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to the applicable part of this chapter or otherwise under IEEPA;
(ii) Considers it important to document the occurrence of a violation; and
(iii) Based on the guidelines contained in appendix A to part 501 of this chapter, concludes that an administrative response is warranted but that a civil monetary penalty is not the most appropriate response.
(2) An initial Finding of Violation shall be in writing and may be issued whether or not another...
1) Provision common to IEEPA-based regulations issued or amended on or after December 12, 2018. These are essentially the same procedures as those seen in the penalty context. The "finding of violation" option has been in the enforcement guidelines as early as 2003, but OFAC has recently begun the strategic practice of using findings of violations to alert the public to interpretations and enforcement priorities it wants to put on the public record but would otherwise not consider worthy of a penalty. Since 2003, there have been 10 such FOVs, all of which seem specifically aimed at signaling some combination of diligence expectations (BMO Harris Bank NA, 2015), a shift in enforcement priority (MasterCard International Incorporated, 2016) or putting novel legal interpretations on the public record (B Whale Corporation, 2017).
2) Older versions of...