NEWS: Under an interim final rule that takes effect March 12, 2025, OFAC’s general recordkeeping requirement is increasing from 5 years to 10 years. Credit unions should take steps now to prepare for the change by reviewing and updating their OFAC policies, procedures, processes, and agreements with any third-party service providers.
As explained in The League’s ii Release No. 0148, OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control) is an office of the U.S. Treasury that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions. Its rules have long required “every person engaging in any transaction subject to” its regulations to maintain full and accurate records of those transactions.
OFAC had to update its record retention regulation because last year, Congress amended federal statutes to extend the statute of limitations for violations of most U.S. sanctions programs from 5 to 10 years.
As always, the record retention clock starts running after the date of the transaction, meaning that the recordkeeping period may sometimes exceed 10 years. For blocked property, the 10-year clock starts when the property is unblocked, which could, in effect, mean indefinite recordkeeping in some situations.