OFAC Archives - MasterCompliance

FINRA announces OFAC search tool is retiring.

FINRA OFAC Search Tool Retiring

Posted on December 15, 2022 by SCM Communications

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) provides an OFAC search tool that many industry member firm’s use as part of their onboarding process for risk-based background reviews. As of January 3, 2023, FINRA’s OFAC search tool will be retired. We recommend that you notify all staff that normally do OFAC checks for your Firm so they can become familiar with the OFAC tool available through the United States Department of Treasury. What is OFAC? The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the government agency that maintains the OFAC list. The OFAC list is a publicly available list and is made Read more about FINRA OFAC Search Tool Retiring[…]

FinCEN vs. OFAC

Posted on July 21, 2017September 27, 2019 by SCM Communications

What is the difference between FinCEN and OFAC? Both organizations are bureaus of the U.S. Treasury department; however, FinCEN requires searches for suspected criminals and OFAC searches identify known criminals. Read More…

OFAC Screening of Existing Clients and Third Parties

Posted on July 8, 2016July 13, 2016 by SCM Communications

On July 6, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) added North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other officials to the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”) for human rights abuses. While it should not be terribly surprising that a political leader alleged by the United States to have caused millions of his own people to endure cruel hardships ended up on the SDN List, this recent designation by OFAC serves to remind broker-dealers and investment advisers of the importance of regularly Read More…