U.S. May Release More Guidance Alongside Sanctions Following Court Ruling, Experts Say

A recent ruling by a U.S. federal judge in a closely watched lawsuit could spur more clarity from the U.S. Treasury Department as it rolls out sanctions, experts say.

The Dec. 31 ruling, which overturned a $2 million fine levied in July 2017 on ExxonMobil Corp. by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), could lead the Treasury to provide even greater guidance about sanctions and how to comply with them, sanctions practitioners told Kharon. OFAC has already improved in recent years with its guidance, they said.

“This ruling will likely press OFAC to do even more to get specific, detailed guidance out there,” said Peter Harrell, a former U.S. State Department sanctions official now serving as an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Read the full story and more in the Kharon Brief.