When President Obama called for banks to freeze assets held by the government of Libya last month, more than $32 billion was uncovered in U.S. banks.
These economic sanctions create an instant compliance headache for banks that suddenly find themselves holding funds for a regime that has been targeted for using brutal force against a populist uprising. There are no immediate penalties for retaining the assets, of course, since previous sanctions against Libya were lifted in 2004, but they now have some hoops to jump through to avoid strict penalties.
