On September 11, 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it is seeking comments on a new interim final rule amending OFAC’s Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations to extend recordkeeping requirements from five to ten years. While OFAC is seeking comments within 30 days, the interim final rule is effective as of September 11, 2024.
This change is driven by the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act, signed into law by the President on April 24, 2024, which extended the statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) from five to ten years. As a result, the U.S. government may now commence an enforcement action for civil or criminal violations of IEEPA- or TWEA-based sanctions prohibitions within 10 years of the latest date of the violation. Pursuant to subsequently issued guidance from OFAC, the agency interprets that to capture all activity that was not outside of the statute as of the time the act was passed; i.e., all activity on or after April 24, 2019 is subject to a ten-year statute of limitations while activity prior to that date is time barred (unless subject to certain limited exceptions to the five-year statute, such as an ongoing conspiracy).
Under the proposed interim final rule, OFAC is extending record-keeping obligations under the OFAC regulations to 10 years, to align with the new 10-year statute of limitations.