Executive Order 13224 Compliance

In 2001 President Bush issued Executive Order 13224, the Global Terrorist Executive Order for “Blocking Property Transactions with Persons who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism.” The Order gives the U.S. government additional powers for stopping the flow of international terrorist financing, and empowers the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of Treasury, which enforces trade sanctions, as the federal agency responsible for implementing it.

The Order expands the Treasury Department’s power to target the support structure of terrorist organizations by freezing the U.S. assets and blocking the U.S. transactions of terrorists and those that support them. It also enables them to deny access to U.S. markets to foreign banks who refuse to cooperate with U.S. authorities to identify and freeze terrorist assets abroad.

All U.S. businesses and non-profit agencies must address internal operations to ensure compliance with the Order. The Order makes U.S. businesses responsible for monitoring their current interactions with investors, joint venturers, trading partners and customers. OFAC publishes and frequently updates a list of specially designated nationals that it is illegal to do business with.

If a business finds that they have entered into a transaction or are about to, they must report this to the U.S. government, even if they had a previous relationship with the party before they were added. While these new requirements are important weapons in the war on terrorism, they create an additional burden for U.S. businesses to police their interactions with others, especially for those U.S. businesses with extensive dealings with individuals and/or entities from the geographical areas with high concentrations of terrorist groups.

For more information about the Executive Order 13244 or U.S. foreign policy, please click the following link http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/other/des/122570.htm.