Wednesday 4 March 2015

A Short Intro of OFAC SDN list Removal Process

OFAC SDN list removal is one of the most complex and sensitive administrative matters which is dealt especially by the US security and treasury department. It does not fall in the ambit of criminal matters. Neither is it a part of civil issues. It is because of this reason that US federal court never involves itself in the matters related to OFAC SDN list removal. These matters, as mentioned earlier, are taken care of by the US Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control. Therefore, if you are finding yourself entangled in such matters, then what you really ought to know is that a defensive state of mind and approach will not help you in any way whatsoever when it comes to addressing such matters.

Another important point about these processes that you should know is that the burden of proof in such matters is a reasonable cause to believe standard. What that basically means that if the Office of Foreign Assets Control have a reason to believe that you or your company should be put in the SDN list, then they will do it straightaway. For instance, if they get any sort of evidence that your company or staff has been involved in trafficking of narcotics or other banned drugs, then they will designate you as an SDNTK. SDNTK stands for Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficking Kingpin. They may or may not have sufficient evidence to convince anybody beyond a reasonable doubt that you have been involved in certain suspicious activities in the recent past. They also need not have to convinced to designate you as an SDN. What they need is a reason to believe that you have been involved in certain suspicious activities. Once they have that, then nobody can stop them from designating you as an SDN.

When you find yourself caught in such matters, the best thing to do is take act quickly. Although it is true that the entire process of gathering of information and documentation takes time for proper reconsideration by the authorities, that should not stop you from taking action at your end. There are quite a few ways which can help you speed up the entire OFAC SDN list removal process. The best thing to do is to hire a lawyer who has dealt with such cases in the past as he or she will know exactly how you should go about the entire process.

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