Browsing by Subject "OFAC"

The purpose of this thesis is to determine how economic sanctions imposed by the United States and their Office of Foreign Assets Control are enforced and why they are strictly observed in countries and by entities not under the United States’ jurisdiction. The focus is on Finland and how Finnish legislation enables this. This thesis includes a historical and theoretical look into the use of economic sanctions and into how global economic factors affect the way United States economic sanctions function. The thesis also establishes an overall view of the main issuers of economic sanctions that affect Finland. The effects of economic sanctions are analyzed by examining the legal case between Boris Rotenberg and four Finnish banks. Boris Rotenberg was placed under sanctions by the United States, which led to him being denied banking services and to his payments not being forwarded. This resulted in Boris Rotenberg suing the banks for the denial of the services. The case is important for demonstrating how the United States economic sanctions work in practice in Finland and how they affect entities not under the jurisdiction of the United States. The conclusion of the thesis is that the fact that economic sanctions imposed by the United States are not legally enforceable in Finland is of very little consequence since the repercussions of non-compliance are harsh. The United States economic sanctions cannot be violated without violating Finnish legislation, which in practice means that United States economic sanctions can be seen to be enforceable in Finland as well.