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OFAC Sanctions Syrian Bank, Tightening Measures Targeting Assad Regime
By Brian Monroe
printU.S. financial institutions must freeze any account and block any payment linked to the Syria Islamic International Bank (SIIB), the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Damascus-based financial institution for acting on behalf of the Commercial Bank of Syria-the country's largest bank-and providing services to its Beirut-based subsidiary, Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank. OFAC designated both banks in August for their alleged links to North Korean weapons proliferators as well as their ties to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is accused of massacring tens of thousands of Syrian citizens...
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The Senate's Foreign Relations Committee passed legislation Tuesday that would allow the White House to impose sanctions on entities that provide petroleum products or military assistance to Syria's government.
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After a busy year for federal sanctions officials, large banks with international footprints are increasingly instituting deeper, standalone audits of their related policies and procedures, say compliance officers and consultants.
Six months after the United States accused three Lebanon-based financial institutions of facilitating a colossal money laundering scheme, Lebanese officials and bankers say concerns about the nation's financial sector may be overblown.
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As international pressure against Syria's crackdown on protesters mounts, efforts by financial institutions to identify transactions related to Syrian arms deals will likely prove fruitless, say analysts.
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday overwhelmingly approved bills that would restrict loans and interbank transfers of credit involving entities that facilitate Iran's petroleum and weapons trade.
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Caught between pressure from U.S. lawmakers to crack down harder on Iran and Syria and the desire to act in concert with America's allies, the White House is walking a fine line in its use of economic sanctions.