The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designation authority typically blocks or freezes any U.S. property or interests of designated persons and generally prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with those designated entities.
October 30, 2025
high
temporal
Description of the legal effect of OFAC designations under U.S. sanctions law.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury includes the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which administers economic sanctions.
October 24, 2025
high
descriptive
Organizational role of OFAC within the U.S. government
Economic sanctions administered by OFAC commonly freeze designated persons' access to U.S. assets and block their ability to conduct transactions with U.S. persons and entities.
October 24, 2025
high
descriptive
Typical effects of U.S. economic sanctions on designated individuals or entities
By 2023, U.S. authorities had expanded the use of economic sanctions tools—originally developed to target terrorism and narcotics networks—to also target human smuggling operations and other transnational criminal organizations.
June 01, 2023
high
temporal
Characterizes a policy trend in U.S. enforcement approaches toward transnational criminal activity.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is an office of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that administers and enforces U.S. economic and trade sanctions.
high
institutional
General description of the U.S. agency responsible for sanctions.
U.S. economic sanctions administered by OFAC can include freezing the U.S.-located assets of designated individuals and prohibiting U.S. persons and companies with U.S. capital from conducting business with those designated.
high
policy
General features and effects of U.S. sanctions enforcement.