Beginner’s Guide to OFAC

RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26, 2024
ANTICIPATED DURATION: : 60-90 MINUTES

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a division of the U.S. Treasury that is responsible for administering and enforcing economic sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy. OFAC targets include anyone engaged in certain activities like transnational organized crime, including narcotics trafficking, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. OFAC helps enforce financial crimes like anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. OFAC rules prohibit any entity in the U.S., including credit unions, from conducting business with parties the government has identified as being involved in various illegal activities.

This means that every credit union needs to have an effective written OFAC compliance program and provide training to all appropriate personnel. This program will explain the purpose and mission of the OFAC, provide an overview of the coverage and scope of the sanctions and regulations administered by the OFAC, describe how credit union can comply with OFAC requirements, and describe the essential elements of a sound OFAC compliance program.

Topics will include:

• Purpose of OFAC screening
• Screening transactions
• Screening the credit union’s membership
• Best practices regarding the OFAC screening process
• Dealing with a potential “OFAC hit”
• OFAC risk assessment
• Elements of an OFAC compliance program

This webinar satisfies NCUA’s expectation that credit unions train all appropriate personnel on their established and maintained effective written OFAC compliance program as noted in FFIEC BSA-AML Exam Manual.

MEET THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT:

Aux is a CUSO (Credit Union Service Organization) located in Lakewood, Colorado, near Denver. Our company has been around since 1992, originally founded to assist credit unions with shared branching and service centers. Although we have evolved over the past two decades into something much more complex and diverse, one thing remains the same: our core reason for existence. We are here to help the people “who help the people,” as the old credit union saying goes – to help credit unions help their members.