Economic Sanctions Transactions Trade Types People Government Access

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury is responsible for "administering" (creating and operating) and enforcing economic sanctions. In most cases, sanctions are designed to "hinder" (make more difficult) the work of "terrorists" (people who use violence to create fear among large groups of people) and "drug traffickers" (people who transport and sell illegal drugs), but the sanctions can also be used as a way to influence a country's policies, especially regarding the use of "chemical weapons" (ways of using dangerous chemicals to hurt or kill people).

One type of economic sanction is to "block assets" or "freeze accounts," which mean to "restrict" (limit) or "prevent" (not allow) a person, organization, or government to access its bank accounts. This restricts "cash flow" (the ability to access money needed to pay one's bills) and makes continued operations almost impossible.

Another type of economic sanction is to "stipulate" (state) that certain transactions are prohibited. Prohibited transactions are usually related to trade with a particular country, but they can also affect what types of "deposits" (money placed in an account) and "withdrawals" (money taken out of an account) banks can "process" (perform for clients).

OFAC usually creates "exceptions" (certain circumstances under which the regular rules do not apply) to its economic sanctions. This is especially true where there are "humanitarian" (related to the welfare and well-being of people) concerns, such as the need to engage in trade so that people have enough food to eat. The OFAC website has a long list of questions that individuals and businesses can answer to determine whether their transactions and trade are "eligible" (qualified) for such exceptions.