OFAC Issues Venezuela-related General License 60A and Amends FAQ 1263

What's on the official record

16 October 2026 — OFAC issued Venezuela-related General License 60A, "Authorizing Transactions Related to Earthquake Relief Efforts in Venezuela," under the Venezuela-related Sanctions program, per the recent-actions page https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20261016. The page cites no Executive Order for this action.

OFAC also amended Frequently Asked Question 1263 (/faqs/1263). The amended FAQ states that GL 60A does not require payments to the Government of Venezuela to be made into the Foreign Government Deposit Funds Account (FGDF). GL 60A authorizes all transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations, including payment of taxes, tolls, and fees to the Government of Venezuela connected with such relief efforts.

The amended FAQ also states that the FGDF payment requirements under other Venezuela-related general licenses — 46E, 48C, 49B, 50C, 51D, 52C, and 54C — remain in place. Payments for activities outside the scope of GL 60A but authorized under those licenses must continue to be paid into the FGDF and may not be recharacterized as earthquake relief or otherwise modified to avoid payment into the FGDF.

Assessment

For a sanctions or trade-finance committee, the record lets you check whether a Venezuela-related payment can be classified under the GL 60A earthquake-relief carve-out so that taxes, tolls, and fees to the Government of Venezuela are made outside the FGDF. FAQ 1263 is the operative text for documenting that a payment sits within GL 60A scope. Hold any payment that is not confirmed as earthquake relief until its correct license classification is established.

For an owner or operating executive, the record lets you check whether Venezuela-facing relief activity your business funds or facilitates falls inside GL 60A, in which case tax, toll, and fee payments to the Government of Venezuela may proceed outside the FGDF. The FAQ is explicit that a payment authorized under another Venezuela-related general license may not be relabeled as earthquake relief to avoid the FGDF. Fix the classification of each government payment before a buyer or lender checks, so the transaction is documented as either GL 60A relief or FGDF-routed under the applicable license.

What would change this call

A further OFAC issuance amending GL 60A or FAQ 1263, or a new or amended Venezuela-related general license changing the FGDF payment requirement, would change the scope the desk reads against this record.

What to check next

Confidence

Filed 25 October 2026 from the record dated 16 October 2026. The note reports only what OFAC's recent-actions page and amended FAQ 1263 state; it makes no independent determination on the scope of any license.

Sources

[1] OFAC Recent Actions, "Issuance of Amended Venezuela-related General License and Frequently Asked Question", 16 October 2026, https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20261016

[2] OFAC Frequently Asked Question 1263, "Does General License (GL) 60A require that payments to the Government of Venezuela be made into the Foreign Government Deposit Funds Account (FGDF)?", https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/1263