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OFAC Clarifies Material Support Designations, With Eye on Legal Issues
By Brian Monroe
printThe U.S. Treasury Department clarified Wednesday the circumstances under which it can blacklist an organization or person for providing material support to terrorist groups. The clarification by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) relates to the agency's designation powers under the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (GTSR) to mandate financial institutions to freeze assets tied to those who could harm the country by giving "financial, material or technological support" to known terrorists. In a statement published on its Web site Wednesday, OFAC sought to clarify the parameters of what that support can include, noting that regulations addressed materials "tangible...
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