OFAC Licenses permit certain transactions otherwise prohibited.

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OFAC licenses are waivers that let you do activities that would normally be blocked by sanctions. They’re issued by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and apply to specific transactions, parties, or purposes under defined conditions. That makes the statement true: licenses permit certain transactions otherwise prohibited.

They don’t replace the OFAC sanctions list or the designations themselves. They also aren’t a blanket approval for every transaction—some activities are allowed under general licenses without a case-by-case review, while others require a specific license. And licensing isn’t about classifying counterparties for risk; risk assessment and due diligence are still needed to manage high-risk relationships. A license is a targeted exception that authorizes an otherwise prohibited action when it fits the stated terms and policy purpose.