Implementation of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has published a final rule on its website regarding penalties for violations of OFAC sanction regulations. The rule has meanwhile been published in the Federal Register as well.
Specifically, the Office is making inflation adjustments to the civil monetary penalties outlined in numerous instruments – in each case in § 701 – for violations of any terms or provisions of the sanction regulations. The adjustments thereby reflect changes in the consumer price index (CPI). OFAC is also adjusting the maximum penalty set out in Statutory Instrument 31 CFR 501, Annex 1 – the so-called Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations – for failures in connection with the reporting and recordkeeping of blocked assets or rejected transactions, to name a few. The exact amounts may be viewed in the new final rule.