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SANCTIONS COMPLIANCE GUIDANCE FOR THE VIRTUAL CURRENCY INDUSTRY
Office of Foreign Assets Control
October 2021
Introduction 1
What Is OFAC? 2
What Are OFAC Sanctions? 3
The SDN List 4
How Do You Block Virtual Currency? 5
OFAC Sanctions Involving Virtual Currency 5
Who Must Comply with OFAC Sanctions? 6
Strict Liability Regulations 6
OFAC Requirements and Procedures 7
Reporting Requirements 7
Recordkeeping Requirements 8
License Procedures 8
Consequences of Noncompliance 9
Enforcement Procedures 9
Enforcement Guidelines 9
Enforcement Actions 9
Voluntary Self-Disclosure 9
Sanctions Compliance Best Practices for the Virtual Currency Industry 10
Management Commitment 11
Risk Assessment 12
Diagnosing Risky Relationships 12
Internal Controls 13
Double-Duty Data 13
Sanctions Screening 16
Remediating the Root Causes of Violations 17
Risk Indicators 17
Testing and Auditing 18
Training 19
OFAC Resources 20
FAQs on Virtual Currency Topics 20
Contact Information 21
Resource Sites 22
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INTRODUCTION
Virtual currencies are beginning to play an increasingly prominent role in the global economy. The growing prevalence of virtual currency...
Notes:
1) BACKGROUND
This document is the first item to be filed to OFACs’ “OFAC Information for Industry Groups” page since 2017. Such “industry group” brochures are ordinarily meant to serve the function of making industry actors aware of the most important aspects of OFAC’s already-public guidance, without adding much in the way of novel statements that bear on the scope and operation of OFAC’s sanctions provisions. The brochures do, however, serve to signal OFAC’s due diligence expectations as they relate to transaction types common for a given industry, and that sense may be referred to in determinations of whether a given person knew or had a “reason to know” about the facts and circumstances underlying a potential violation. see generally General Note on the Terms "Knowingly," "Should Have Known" And "Reason to Know" In the Primary Sanctions,...