Executive Order Blocks Certain Transactions Involving The Libyan Government

On February 25, 2011, President Obama issued an executive order (the order) sanctioning the Government of Libya for its use of extreme tactics in suppressing the people of Libya and for possible misappropriation of funds. The order blocks all U.S. Persons (U.S. Citizens, permanent residents, entities organized in the United States, or any person in the United States) from transactions involving the property or property interests of the following persons or entities:

The Government of Libya, its agencies, instrumentalities, and controlled entities, including the Central Bank of Libya; Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, some of his family members, and certain enumerated officials; and Persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be (a) senior officials of the Government of Libya, (b) children of Qadhafi, (c) responsible for participating or assisting in Libyan political repression, or (d) spouses and dependent children of any blocked person. Under the order, U.S. Persons are prohibited from directly or indirectly, transferring, paying, withdrawing, exporting, or otherwise dealing in any property or property interests of the targeted persons or entities without authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

It is unclear at this point just how broadly the executive order will be interpreted, or what the impact will be on entities not involved with the Libyan government. As drafted, the order only applies to certain enumerated persons, the Government of Libya and its agencies, and controlled entities. For now, the order does not impact private entities not connected with a named party.

However, exporters should be aware that in the past these types of orders have been broadly...