H.R. 1450 — OFAC Licensure for Investigators Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “OFAC Licensure for Investigators Act.”

This section directs the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control to establish, not later than 1 year after enactment, a pilot program under which a private sector firm may receive a license to conduct nominal financial transactions in furtherance of the firm’s investigations. It requires the Director to coordinate with the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network when establishing and carrying out the pilot program to support the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Exchange under 31 U.S.C. § 310(d). It also requires each licensed firm to submit a detailed monthly report to the Office of Foreign Assets Control on activities conducted under the license. This section further requires the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control to report to the House Committees on Financial Services and Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Foreign Relations 1 year after the pilot program is established, and annually thereafter until 1 year after the program terminates. Each report must include: (1) the number of licenses requested, (2) the number of licenses granted, and (3) a broad discussion of the pilot program’s utility. After each report, the Director must provide a classified briefing to the same committees with additional detail on applicants, the firms granted licenses, how the program operated, how long each license lasted, the personnel needed to manage the program, information obtained from the pilot, the utility of that information, obstacles to the program’s operation or utility, and recommendations for improving or extending the program. This section terminates the pilot program 5 years after the date on which the Director establishes it.