How is the Sanctions Landscape Looking These Days?

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Farhad Alavi — Leave a comment

It’s been a long time since my last post. People often come up and ask what has been going on recently with respect to sanctions matters. This of course is an open-ended question. Syria has been in the news as have other countries, but of course given that Iran has been the topic du jour for over the past year now (only to heighten in importance these coming weeks), I figured I’d post this quick rehash of what has been going on.

1. The Iran laws have stayed the same. Indeed the value of the Iranian Rial has absolutely plummeted, but that really cannot possibly be due to any new sanctions issues, right? Exactly, the legal landscape is still the same. What is constantly changing is the logistical landscape – activities that are legal become increasingly challenging. It’s amazing how much banks and other companies have to learn in terms of what types of transactions are possible and which ones are not. A lot of “good” gets weeded out with the “bad,” and that’s where folks like yours truly come in, explaining the laws to those who don’t know them.

2. General License C for the Iranian earthquake. Late in August, OFAC issued a general license allowing certain charitable organizations in the U.S. to each raise and transfer up to $300,000 for victims of the August earthquake in Iranian Azerbaijan. This general license is aimed at making the transfer of humanitarian aid easier, although there are certain strings attached, including a reporting requirement.

Basically, the licensing regimes for basic dealings in Iran and certain types of funds transfer (remember, not all funds transfers necessarily require specific licenses from OFAC) remain the same. Turnover time at OFAC seems to be increasing, however, and while I used to tell clients they’d likely have to wait 2.5-4 months, I’m finding myself giving longer estimates now.