NodusBank avoids fine in OFAC case over Venezuela sanctions violations
By Aaron Nicodemus2022-10-19T16:55:00
A small Puerto Rican bank was found to have violated U.S. sanctions against Venezuela by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for allowing three unlicensed transactions on a blocked account.
Nodus International Bank engaged in three transactions totaling $50,271 with blocked accounts controlled by a person added to OFAC’s List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons in 2017, according to the agency’s enforcement release published Tuesday. The transactions were completed by Nodus without receiving a license from OFAC to deal in blocked accounts, as required. The bank’s sanctions compliance officer notified senior bank officials of this requirement, but the advice was not heeded, OFAC said.
Nodus’s violations were self-reported. OFAC determined the harm caused was not significant, and the bank implemented remediations because of the incident. As a result, the agency decided to issue a finding of violation but no fine.