On Feb. 18, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $507,375 settlement with BitPay, Inc., an Atlanta-based payment processing company that enables merchants to accept digital currency, for more than 2,100 apparent violations of U.S. economic sanctions. The settlement serves as a timely reminder to all companies engaged in digital currency transactions – whether administrators, exchangers, or technology companies and other business that accept digital currency – of the importance of maintaining risk-based sanctions compliance controls.

Continue reading the full GT Alert.

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Cyril T. Brennan Cyril T. Brennan

Cyril (Cy) Brennan focuses his practice on international trade regulation and compliance, with an emphasis on U.S. export controls and economic sanctions. Cy handles matters regarding the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), U.S. sanctions programs administered by…

Cyril (Cy) Brennan focuses his practice on international trade regulation and compliance, with an emphasis on U.S. export controls and economic sanctions. Cy handles matters regarding the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), U.S. sanctions programs administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of Commerce’s anti-boycott regulations. In addition, he represents clients before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and advises clients on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the foreign direct investment reporting requirements of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and other trade and investment-related regulations in the context of mergers and acquisitions.

Photo of Kyle R. Freeny Kyle R. Freeny

Kyle R. Freeny, a skilled trial attorney and former federal prosecutor for the Special Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), draws on more than a dozen years of high-profile experience in the federal government to

Kyle R. Freeny, a skilled trial attorney and former federal prosecutor for the Special Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), draws on more than a dozen years of high-profile experience in the federal government to help clients navigate sensitive government and internal investigations, criminal and civil enforcement matters, and related complex litigation. She has particular experience in matters involving complex financial crime, cross-border investigations, anti-money laundering, anti-corruption, economic sanctions, asset forfeiture, and affirmative challenges to federal agency action.

While at the Department of Justice, Kyle also played a key role in major international money laundering and corruption matters, including important matters involving the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Kyle also has considerable experience handling sensitive and complex cross-border issues in transnational financial cases, and she was responsible for the largest civil asset forfeiture recovery in DOJ history.

Kyle uses this deep experience in federal law enforcement to counsel clients facing scrutiny from DOJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and other law enforcement and financial regulatory agencies. Kyle conducts internal investigations on a range of issues and advises clients on a wide array of anti-money laundering, anti-corruption, and other compliance issues.

Kyle also helps clients develop and litigate challenges to federal regulations, policies, and agency decisions across a range of industries, drawing on her years of prior experience at DOJ representing a cross-section of federal agencies —from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to the Department of Energy to the Department of State and various intelligence agencies—in high-profile litigation. She has appeared before federal trial courts across the country.

Photo of David I. Miller David I. Miller

David I. Miller, an experienced trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, securities and commodities enforcement, related complex civil litigation, and cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and national security matters. Previously, David served…

David I. Miller, an experienced trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, securities and commodities enforcement, related complex civil litigation, and cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and national security matters. Previously, David served for five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.), over half that time as a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. He also served as a terrorism prosecutor with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, as an Assistant General Counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency, and as a white-collar, securities, and commercial litigation attorney in private practice. Before joining Greenberg Traurig, David was a partner at another global law firm.