For those that find themselves on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons administered by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), commonly referred to as the OFAC SDN List, the process to seek removal can be quite frustrating. For one, the process for reconsideration is long averaging several years and those in the process may wait years before even hearing any updates from OFAC on their case.

In my experience of handling over a dozen OFAC SDN removal cases, I found that there are certain categories information that OFAC is seeking in the SDN reconsideration process. Some of the more common areas of information that OFAC seeks are:

1. Personal Identifying Information: This includes any aliases used by the designated party, the designated party’s passport numbers, and addresses and alternatives addressed utilized by the designated party.

2. Legal Proceedings: OFAC also seeks information concerning any past or current legal matters that the designated party may be involved in. This can include civil matters, criminal prosecutions, criminal investigations, indictments, arrests, warrants for arrests, or convictions that have taken place in any jurisdiction in the world.

3. Employment History: Given OFAC’s position as an agency of the U.S. Treasury they are obviously focused on a designated party’s financial situation and how they earn their living. As such, OFAC often asks questions concerning a designated party’s employment history including places of employment, dates of employment, the phone/fax numbers and addresses of past and present employers, and the names and titles of owners, officers, directors, and senior managers for those employers.

There are numerous other categories of information OFAC will seek in the SDN reconsideration process; however, the above are three critical areas where those pursuing such a reconsideration can begin gathering information and documents to facilitate the process of challenging an OFAC SDN designation. As noted above, the OFAC SDN reconsideration process can be long and frustrating, however, with the right attorney, the right knowledge, and a lot of patience, designations can be removed.

The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in OFAC matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.