OFAC
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | December 1950 |
| Preceding |
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| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Employees | Approximately 200 (2013) |
| Annual budget | $30.9 million (2013) |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent department | Department of the Treasury |
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department charged with planning and execution of economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. Under Presidential national emergency powers, OFAC carries out its activities against foreign states as well as a variety of other organizations and individuals, like terrorist groups, deemed to be a threat to U.S. national security.
As a component of the U.S. Treasury Department, OFAC operates under the auspices of the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and 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).
Sometimes described as one of the "most powerful yet unknown" government agencies, OFAC has been in existence since 1950, and plays an increasingly significant role as a foreign policy lever of the U.S. government. The agency is empowered to levy significant penalties against entities that defy its directives, including imposing fines, freezing assets, and barring parties from operating in the U.S. In 2014, OFAC reached a record $963 million settlement with the French bank BNP Paribas, which was a portion of an $8.9 billion penalty imposed in relation to the case as a whole.
Involvement of the U.S. Department of the Treasury in economic sanctions against foreign states dates to the War of 1812, when Secretary Albert Gallatin administered sanctions against Great Britain in retaliation for the impressment (harassment) of American sailors.
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