Aydin M. Akgün is the Director of Licensing and Compliance at Ferrari & Associates in Washington, D.C. where he provides guidance on U.S. sanctions-related licensing matters; coordinates the development and submission of sanctions related applications to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office Foreign Assets Control (OFAC); and helps the firm refine its compliance advice with regard to OFAC’s general and specific licenses.
Prior to joining Ferrari & Associates Mr. Akgün was a licensing officer and then section chief in the Licensing Division of OFAC, where he worked extensively for two decades on over 30 different sanctions programs, including sanctions involving Cuba, Belarus, Iran, Global Magnitsky, Nicaragua, Russia, and Venezuela. In addition to his work related to the adjudication of license applications, Mr. Akgün also researched, interpreted, and advised on OFAC regulations, including through the provision of briefing packages and decision memoranda for OFAC’s management, including for the OFAC Director. Mr. Akgün was also frequently involved in coordinating with OFAC’s interagency partners on sanctions-related licensing activities, including by representing OFAC in interagency meetings, and preparing correspondence assigned to his team in response to inquiries from Congress, other federal agencies, and the public.
Before becoming a civil servant, Mr. Akgün was the corporate relations coordinator at the Brookings Institution from 2000 – 2004.
Mr. Akgün graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2000, and received his MFA from Johns Hopkins University in 2009.