Tagged: ofac

23 Sep, 2025

OFAC Penalizes ShapeShift AG $750,000 for Apparent Sanctions Violations

On September 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced the resolution of an enforcement action against ShapeShift AG (“ShapeShift”), a now defunct digital asset exchange incorporated in Switzerland but headquartered and operated from Denver, Colorado. ShapeShift agreed to remit $750,000 to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs, including those directed...

Events

15 Sep, 2025

Webinar: DOJ Pushes Aggressive Trade Enforcement Strategy

Webinar: DOJ Pushes Aggressive Trade Enforcement Strategy October 21, 2025, 12 Noon Sign-Up HERE The Trump Administration has warned that DOJ and regulatory agencies (OFAC, BIS and DDTC) intend to seek stiff punishment for violations of tariffs, sanctions and export controls. DOJ’s new initiative has been unveiled in two significant enforcement actions — Cadence Design Systems and Unicat Catalyst — where DOJ organized a comprehensive...

General

9 Sep, 2025

OFAC Penalizes Freight Forwarder Fracht FWO $1.6 Million for Multiple Violations of Sanctions Programs

On September 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a $1,610,775 settlement with Fracht FWO Inc. (“Fracht”), an international freight forwarder headquartered in Houston, Texas, in connection with apparent violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs, including those targeting Venezuela and Iran. The matter arose from a May 2022 transaction in which Fracht, responding to urgent customer demands,...

General

22 Jul, 2025

Interactive Brokers Settles with OFAC for $11.8 Million for Violations of Multiple Sanctions Programs

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced on July 15, 2025, that Interactive Brokers LLC (“IB”)—a globally active electronic brokerage firm headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut—agreed to remit $11,832,136 to resolve its potential civil liability for a staggering 12,367 apparent violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs. The violations, which spanned from approximately July 15, 2016 through January 31, 2024, implicated...

Podcasts

21 Jul, 2025

Episode 378 — Update on Export and Sanctions Enforcement Cases

The Trump Administration is aggressively pursuing export controls and sanctions enforcement. In two separate cases, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security imposed significant penalties for violations. BIS Case On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a final order resolving administrative enforcement proceedings against Alpha and Omega Semiconductor...

General

10 Jul, 2025

OFAC Imposes $608,825 Penalty on Key Holding, LLC for Apparent Violations of Cuban Sanctions Regulations

On July 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with Key Holding, LLC (“Key Holding”), a privately held logistics and freight forwarding firm headquartered in Delaware, to resolve Key Holding’s potential civil liability for apparent violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (“CACR”), 31 C.F.R. part 515. The apparent...

Podcasts

7 Jul, 2025

Episode 376 — DOJ’s Unicat Settlement and the Future Look of Trade Enforcement

What happens when a company inherits a sanctions violation through acquisition, and acts fast to fix it? Can a robust post-acquisition response really save a parent company from prosecution? In this episode, Michael Volkov unpacks the fascinating DOJ-led global enforcement action against UNICAT Catalyst Technologies – a case that reflects the U.S. government’s intensifying focus on trade enforcement across sanctions, export controls, and customs. This...

General

30 Jun, 2025

Lessons Learned from the Unicat Settlement (Part III of III)

The Unicat settlement provides some important insights into the Trump Administration’s direction on trade enforcement. It underscores the importance of voluntary disclosure, cooperation and remediation, the tri-part foundation of seeking a favorable enforcement resolution. Also, it emphasizes the importance of securing disclosure credit with the Justice Department since Unicat’s parent received a declination because of its early disclosure and complete cooperation. In stark contrast, the...

General

27 Jun, 2025

DOJ’s Coordinated Resolution with Unicat Resolves OFAC, BIS and CBP Violations (Part II of III)

DOJ’s Unicat resolution is a perfect example of the new trade enforcement reality under the Trump Administration. DOJ spearheaded a global resolution of sanctions, customs and export controls violations, while declining to prosecute the parent company that voluntarily disclosed the violations quickly after acquiring Catalyst. As detailed in court documents and in DOJ’s agreements with White Deer and Unicat, from approximately 2014 through 2021, Mani...

General

26 Jun, 2025

Unicat Settles with DOJ and Resolves Sanctions, Export Controls and Customs Violations Applying Voluntary Disclosure Policy in M&A Context (Part I of III)

In an interesting enforcement action reflecting the Administration’s priority on sanctions, export and customs enforcement, DOJ announced a global resolution with DOJ, OFAC, BIS and CBP and Unicat Catalyst Technologies (“Unicat”), under which Unicat agreed to pay forfeiture totaling $3,325,052.10, representing the proceeds of its violations of U.S. sanctions, export control and customs laws. In parallel resolutions coordinated between the Justice Department, the OFAC and...