OFAC Issues Updated Guidance on Blocked Funds
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued revised "Guidance on the Release of Limited Amounts of Blocked Funds for Payment of Legal Fees and Costs Incurred in Challenging the Blocking of U.S. Persons in Administrative or Civil Proceedings."
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OFAC has revised the policy, inter alia, so that its overall attorney fee and cost caps do not apply for applications submitted by a blocked party who has not been designated but whose property and interests in property have been "blocked pending investigation." Such a blocked party must meet all other requirements of the policy before obtaining access to blocked funds, and the hourly fee cap of $125 will continue to be applied to such applications. This revision to the policy applies only to pending and future licensing applications submitted pursuant to this policy as of July 23, 2010, and will not be applied retroactively to persons whose property or interests in property previously were blocked pending investigation but who are not longer in that status.