Sarbanes Oxley is sucking away almost all of the oxygen in the coverage and discussion of records management and related issues. However, many businesses are finding that they may have issues relating to the Patriot Act, “deemed exports” and “specially designated nationals and blocked entities.”
I had an interesting discussion yesterday with Sean Tierney of Legal Technology Consulting, Inc. about the later topic yesterday. He’s developed a web-based compliance tool and is working on other compliance tools.
Let me simply give you the summary from LTC’s SDNCompliance.com site:
“The Office for Foreign Assets Control is a branch of the US Treasury and has the duty of enforcing sanctions against “enemies of the United States” as designated on a master list called the “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Entities.” OFAC has strict regulations regarding the acceptance of payment from individuals suspected of aiding terrorists. Many law firms may be unaware that they are expected to screen all past and potential clients against a list of nearly 5000 entities that changes daily. Those firms that are aware are grappling with the procedural and technological difficulty of adhering to a very tedious and challenging task. Penalty for violating OFAC regulations (whether knowingly or unknowingly) can result in fines of up to $10,000,000 and 30 years of imprisonment.”
As Sean noted, that last sentence will get your attention. Add one more item to your 2005 to do list.