Financial institutions will be paying closer attention to the accounts of their shipping clients after the Obama administration issued an executive order aimed at curtailing Somali piracy, say consultants. On Tuesday, the White House launched a sanctions program prohibiting companies from doing business with those engaged in "acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea" off the coast of Somalia as well as those who disrupt the country's security. The Treasury Department blacklisted 11 individuals under the new program the same day. The Somali sanctions-the 19th managed by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)-will be tailored...
American sanctions, terrorist financing prosecutions and rising related compliance costs have made it increasingly difficult for Somalia's U.S.-based community to move money to the African nation.
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