OFAC reissues Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 590)

Mechanism

The Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations (TCOSR, 31 CFR Part 590) provide the statutory and procedural architecture for OFAC's asset-blocking authority over significant transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). The authority derives from two executive orders:

• EO 13581 (July 24, 2011) declared a national emergency with respect to the threat posed by

significant TCOs to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, blocking property of designated organizations and their associates.

• EO 13863 (March 15, 2019) expanded the scope to authorise designation of foreign persons

who have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for TCOs, and their leadership or senior officials.

Prior to this reissuance, 31 CFR Part 590 existed only in a condensed "placeholder" form published in 2012, directing readers to the broader OFAC framework rather than providing organisation-specific guidance. This final rule replaces that placeholder with comprehensive regulations that include:

• Definitions of key terms (significant TCO, associated individual, blocked property)
• General licenses authorising categories of otherwise prohibited transactions
• Interpretive guidance on what activities constitute material support for a designated TCO
• Procedural provisions covering licensing applications, recordkeeping, and reporting obligations

Downstream implications

• Strengthens the legal basis for OFAC enforcement actions targeting TCO-linked financial flows,

logistics networks, and front companies, regardless of nationality of the counterparty.

• Provides clearer compliance standards for financial institutions screening for TCO-linked

clients under existing BSA/AML obligations.

• The reissuance does not add new designees to the SDN list; operational impact is compliance

clarification rather than new asset freezes.

• Parallel to OFAC's ongoing completion of standalone CFR parts for other sanctions programs

(e.g., 31 CFR Part 599 for EO 14059 narcotics sanctions filed December 2022).

Open questions

• Whether any general licenses included in the reissuance expand permitted humanitarian or

legal-services transactions relative to the 2012 placeholder version.

• Timeline for any new SDN designations that leverage the clearer TCO definition framework.