Under the authority of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (the Act), as amended, OFAC is adjusting for inflation the maximum amount of the civil monetary penalties that may be assessed under its relevant regulations. For instance, for penalties assessed under the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), penalties will increase to the greater of US$284,582 or twice the amount of the underlying transaction per violation. Importantly, the new civil monetary penalty amounts will only be applicable to civil monetary penalties assessed after 1 August 2016, where the associated violations occurred after 2 November 2015.

The Act applies also to penalty provisions of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), which authorises the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Effective 1 August 2016, civil monetary penalties now capped at US$500,000 per violation of the controls on the temporary import and export of defence articles and defence services will increase to US$1,094,010 per ITAR violation.