Jurisdictional Nexus

Jurisdictional nexus is the connecting factor that brings a maritime transaction within a state’s enforcement reach. In US sanctions practice the nexus is most often a US-dollar payment cleared through a US correspondent bank, a US person in the transaction, US-origin goods or technology, or a US-incorporated party. OFAC asserts jurisdiction once such a link exists, which is why dollar-clearing shipping deals expose non-US owners, charterers, and traders to enforcement under programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control even when no party is American.