International Trade Law News

After a five month wait, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) finally has a new director. Newly installed Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson today appointed Adam Szubin to be Director of OFAC. Szubin replaces Robert Werner, who served as OFAC's Director from October 1, 2004 until March 3, 2006. Werner now serves as Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Barbara Hammerle has been serving as OFAC's Acting Director since Werner's departure. This position does not require Senate confirmation.

Szubin currently serves as the senior legal and policy advisor to Stuart Levey, the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. In this capacity, he helped to develop and coordinate the implementation of policies on a range of issues, including terrorist financing, money laundering, sanctions programs, rogue regimes, WMD proliferation, and intelligence analysis. Szubin chaired the Money Laundering Threat Assessment Working Group, which produced the first government-wide analysis of U.S. money laundering vulnerabilities.

Before coming to Treasury, Szubin worked at the Justice Department where he served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, coordinating the Department's efforts to combat terrorism financing. Prior to assuming that position, he worked as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the Justice Department, serving as a member of the Terrorism Litigation Task Force.

Labels: OFAC