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813. As a member of the art community, what are my compliance obligations with respect to Executive Order 13224, as amended?

Answer

U.S. persons (including galleries, museums, private art collectors, auction companies, and others that conduct or facilitate transactions involving artwork) must ensure that they do not engage in transactions with persons listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) on OFAC’s SDN List or with persons otherwise blocked pursuant to E.O. 13224, unless authorized by OFAC. U.S. persons should develop a tailored, risk-based compliance program, which may include sanctions list screening or other appropriate measures. An adequate compliance solution will depend on a variety of factors, including the type of business involved, and there is no single compliance program or solution suitable for every circumstance. For purposes of these requirements, U.S. persons include all U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens regardless of where they are located, all persons and entities within the United States, and all U.S.-incorporated entities and their foreign branches. U.S. persons who engage in prohibited transactions may be subject to civil or criminal penalties. Non-U.S. persons who engage in prohibited transactions subject to U.S. jurisdiction with SDGTs or persons otherwise blocked pursuant to E.O. 13224 may be subject to civil or criminal penalties, and also risk being sanctioned by OFAC. Foreign financial institutions may be subject to correspondent and payable through account sanctions if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions for or on behalf of a SDGT. The names of, and identifying information for, all individuals and entities included on OFAC’s sanctions lists may be located via OFAC’s free, online search engine at the following URL: http://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov. In addition, OFAC offers text and PDF versions of these lists for manual review and a number of data file versions of its lists that are designed to facilitate automated screening. Depending on the scale, sophistication, and risk profile of your business, you may consider one of the numerous commercially available screening software packages.

Date Released
December 13, 2019