OFAC publishes Global Magnitsky Regulations

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’) has published the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations, which implement the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and Executive Order 13818.

The regulations came into force on 29 June. The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, signed into law by President Obama in 2016, authorises the president to impose targeted sanctions on foreign persons determined to be responsible for killings, torture or other gross violations of human rights. Executive Order 13818 ‘Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuses or Corruption’ was signed by President Trump in 2017. To date, 73 parties have had assets blocked under this executive order, cutting them off from the US financial markets.

The new regulations were issued in a truncated form ‘for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public’. OFAC intends to supplement them with a comprehensive set of regulations that may include guidance, general licences, and statements of licensing policy.

The Global Magnitsky Regulations can be found here:
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/31cfr583.pdf