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CUNA Regulatory Comment Call

July 1, 2002

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is requesting comments on a proposed rule regarding the public disclosure of civil penalty information.



• Under the rule, OFAC will disclose to the public certain information about civil penalties that are imposed, as well as informal settlements. This information will be disclosed periodically, which will be at least on a quarterly basis.



• Comments are due by July 19, 2002. Please submit your comments to CUNA by July 17, 2002.

Please feel free to fax your responses to CUNA at 202-638-7052; e-mail them to Associate General Counsel Mary Dunn at mdunn@cuna.com and to Assistant General Counsel Jeffrey Bloch at jbloch@cuna.com; or mail them to Mary and Jeff in c/o CUNA’s Regulatory Advocacy Department, 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, South Building, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004-2601. You may also contact us at 800-356-9655, ext. 6032, if you would like a copy of the rules, or you may access them on the Internet at the following address:

http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/civpen/availinf.pdf

BACKGROUND

OFAC has decided to provide more information to the public in order to promote greater awareness of its enforcement activities and to encourage greater compliance with the OFAC sanctions program. This proposed rule is intended to achieve that goal, consistent with statutory and regulatory requirements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED RULE

OFAC will now disclose to the public information on civil penalties on a periodic basis, which will be at least quarterly and will be available on the OFAC website at www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/index.html. Specifically, in proceedings against an entity that results in a civil penalty or informal settlement, OFAC will release the following information:

• The name of the entity.
• The sanctions program involved.
• A brief description of the violation.
• The amount of the penalty or the amount of the settlement.

For now, OFAC will not release names of individuals, but is seeking comment on possible disclosure of individual names in the future. Currently, penalties and settlements involving individuals will be released periodically on an aggregate basis.

The following types of information will not be disclosed under this rule:

• Civil penalties under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations.
• Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and that is privileged or confidential under the Freedom of Information Act.
• Pending enforcement or civil penalties proceedings. This rule will only apply to proceedings after they have been concluded.

1. Should OFAC civil penalty information be disclosed, as described in the proposed rule? Other than the exceptions listed above, are there any other types of information that should not be disclosed?
   
   

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2. The rule will only include names of entities, not individuals. Should the names of individuals be disclosed?
   
   

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3. Other comments?
   
   

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