The Long Arm of OFAC
I came across an article today writen by a British journalist who has been unable to mortgage a home in Britian because he currently has an address in Sudan. According to some of the reasoning used by the Bank of Scotland International, since the United States–through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”)–had brought economic sanctions against Sudan, the Bank of Scotland International deemed engaging in transactions with individuals from Sudan too risky as well.
The progenitors of economic sanctions have to be smiling somewhere. This is exactly the type of thing OFAC wants; namely to prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with sanctioned countries while simultaneously discouraging transactions with those countries by third party entities. Chalk up a win for OFAC.