Banco do Brasil, S.A. settles OFAC liability

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced that Banco do Brasil, S.A., New York Branch (BBNY) has agreed to remit $139,500 to settle its potential civil liability for seven apparent violations of § 560.204 of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 560 (ITSR).

BBNY had added the name of Isfahan Internacional Importadora Ltda, a customer of its affilitate in Brazil, to its "Good Guy Exception List" -- an OFAC "hit" exception list -- in spite of the fact that the customer's name included the name of a location in Iran. It relied on statements by the company to the Brazil affiliate that it neither exported goods to, nor imported them from, Iran. BBNY then processed trade payments involving locations in Iran because the Iranian location, Isfahan, was ignored by the BBNY interdiction software.

From the OFAC announcement: "This enforcement action highlights the risks associated with failing to review multiple OFAC warnings signs with respect to a particular customer – including transactions blocked or rejected by other financial institutions specifically due to OFAC sanctions – as well as the risks posed by relying on incomplete or inaccurate information when assessing a potential OFAC alert or match."