Litigation

17 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS On November 9, OFAC announced that it had issued a Finding of Violation to Dubai-based Mashreqbank psc for 1,760 apparent violations of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations arising from the processing of payments through US financial institutions related to US dollar transfers from Sudanese bank accounts. Specifically, between January 4, 2005 and February 9, 2009, Mashreqbank's London branch processed 1,760 outgoing payments through US financial institutions from accounts of Sudanese banks held outside of the US. According to OFAC, Mashreqbank did not populate the optional field in the SWIFT payment messages that would identify the originating Sudanese institution, which rendered the US correspondent bank accounts of Mashreqbank unable to detect the involvement of Sudanese accounts and interdict the payments. The failure to populate this field was contrary to then-applicable SWIFT protocols, general banking practice, and Mashreqbank's own standard procedures. By processing these payments, Mashreqbank caused US persons to export services from the US to Sudan in violation of US sanctions. Although OFAC found Mashreqbank to have acted recklessly and to have weak internal controls, OFAC determined a Finding of Violation ("FOV") was sufficient in lieu of a civil monetary penalty, in part because of Mashreqbank's willingness to enter into a retroactive statute of limitations waiver agreement without which the prosecution of these violations would have been time-barred. The FOV was part of a global settlement between Mashreqbank, the New York State Department of Financial Services, and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. On December 8, 2021, OFAC announced that it had reached a settlement with an individual US person to settle that person's potential civil liability arising under US sanctions against Iran. Between February 2016 and March 2016, the US Person accepted payment on behalf of an Iran-based company that sold Iranian-origin cement clinker to a separate company for use abroad. According to OFAC, the US Person arranged for and received four payments, totaling $133,860 into his personal bank account in the United States in connection with the sale of cement clinker from an Iranian company. The US Person coordinated the sale of the clinker with the help of a family member who worked at the Iranian company and served as an intermediary between the Iranian company and the third-country purchaser. OFAC further alleged that the US Person knew or had reason to know that the conduct was prohibited. For example, the US Person previously applied for, but was denied, a license from OFAC to authorize transactions with Iran, and was informed by the Iranian company of the complications involved in accepting US dollar payments. In determining the $133,860 settlement amount, OFAC noted that the conduct was not voluntarily disclosed and that it constituted an egregious case. On December 23, TD Bank, N.A. agreed to pay a $115,005 penalty to settle two matters involving apparent violations of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations and the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations. In the first matter, OFAC alleged that the bank processed 1,479 transactions totaling $382,685.38 between December 2016 and August 2018 and maintained nine accounts on behalf of employees of the North Korean mission to the United Nations without a license from OFAC. US sanctions against North Korea prohibit US

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