Erich Ferrari

Erich Ferrari is our exclusively recommended OFAC Sanctions Law expert in Washington DC on the Advisory Excellence website. If you need assistance in this area, please contact Erich directly using the contact details listed above.

As the Founder and Principal Attorney of Ferrari & Associates, P.C., Erich represents United States and foreign corporations, financial institutions, exporters, insurers, as well as private individuals in matters arising before, or in matters involving the laws administered by, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), as well as in federal courts involving challenges to OFAC designations, civil seizures and forfeitures due to alleged OFAC sanctions violations, and in criminal investigations and prosecutions for alleged violations of OFAC sanctions. With nearly 14 years of experience in national security law, exports control, and United States economic sanctions, he counsels across industry sectors representing parties in a wide range of OFAC-related matters.

Erich’s representations before OFAC frequently involve matters involving the Iran, Ukraine-/Russia-related, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Counter-Terrorism, and the Counter Narcotics sanctions programs. As part of these representations, he has worked to have names removed from OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), responded to OFAC administrative subpoenas, procured OFAC specific licenses to engage in transactions prohibited by OFAC, conducted internal investigations and drafted OFAC voluntary self-disclosures, developed and implemented OFAC compliance programs for financial institutions and multi-national companies, and provided general counselling on OFAC related matters to a variety of client.

Erich’s litigation experience includes numerous lawsuits against OFAC arising from both the blocking of assets, as well as those targeting parties under various sanctions authorities. In addition, he has extensive experience representing parties in federal criminal prosecutions, including those involving export control and sanctions violations. He has also represented clients in other litigation including, for instance, federal civil forfeiture administrative and judicial proceedings arising from purported violations of OFAC-administered regulations .

Erich Ferrari actively writes on OFAC-administered trade sanctions on his blog at sanctionlaw.com as well as for publication. In addition, he is often called upon by media outlets to speak on United States trade sanctions issues and has been interviewed on OFAC-related issues by CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.

Significant Clients:

The OFAC lawyers at Ferrari & Associates handle some of the biggest and most complex sanctions cases in the world. Indeed, often times the sanctions-related matters capturing headlines and being discussed by the media involve clients represented by Ferrari & Associates or matters in which the Firm and its clients are involved. It is also common for the OFAC lawyers at Ferrari & Associates to team up with some of the most well-known and well-regarded lawyers and law firms in the world to handle cases involving removal from the OFAC SDN List, defence of high-profile defendants in investigations and prosecutions, and advising top global financial institutions on compliance with United States sanctions.

As noted in the case summaries below, the clients taken on by the OFAC lawyers at Ferrari & Associates range from private individuals to state-owned enterprises and global financial institutions. The matters involve every type of OFAC case imaginable from routine compliance work such as helping a financial institution or multi-national corporation prepare, adopt and implement sanctions compliance policies and procedures to filing lawsuits against OFAC to challenge the designations they make to the SDN List.

The range of matters that Ferrari & Associates take on and the variety of its clientele, allows the firm to have a 360 degree view of how United States sanctions work from procedural, substantive, and policy perspectives. This view provides a level of specific expertise not found in every law firm that handles United States sanctions work, which provides our clients with real insight on what the law means and what can be expected if certain approaches to their case are undertaken. Anyone can read the law for themselves, but interacting with OFAC on a daily basis and constantly reviewing and interpreting their actions gives Ferrari & Associates uncommon insight as to how the agency will react in response to certain circumstances or situations. This insight significantly aids our clients in their cases, whether those cases are routine or complex.