Note · January 24, 2026 · 5 min

OFAC Secondary Sanctions: Calibrating Defensive Posture

OFAC’s expanded use of secondary sanctions creates new operational risk for non-U.S. financial institutions and corporates.

OFAC’s expanded use of secondary sanctions in recent months creates new operational risk for non-U.S. financial institutions and multinational corporates with material U.S. nexus. For non-U.S. institutions, the practical question is no longer whether secondary sanctions are extraterritorial — that question is settled — but how to calibrate compliance posture for an environment in which a meaningful percentage of cross-border transactions touch U.S. sanctions concerns.