🌐 Industries We Serve
Making Cross-Border Payments Faster, Safer, and More Cost-Effective for Financial Institutions
Helping our clients avoid economic sanctions.
Hallmark Escrow Co. (HEC), including its non-U.S. branches and subsidiaries, complies with the sanctions administered and enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as well as all other applicable U.S. laws and regulatory requirements. The European Union (EU) also maintains sanctions and restrictive measures across all member states, and HEC entities operating within the EU must comply with those programs. Additional countries where HEC operates may have their own sanctions, which HEC also adheres to.
OFAC sanctions prohibit or restrict HEC from engaging in activities involving sanctioned individuals, organizations, countries, or regions. Depending on the specific sanctions, HEC may be required to freeze assets, reject transactions, withhold services, or take other actions. Currently, comprehensively sanctioned regions include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea, Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) regions of Ukraine. Unless exempt or authorized under a general or specific OFAC license, HEC is prohibited from participating in any transactions connected to these regions.
HEC customers must also ensure their services, investments, or trades do not involve sanctioned parties or regions. These transactions must not be routed through or financed by HEC. If any activity appears to violate sanctions, HEC will take appropriate actions, which may include blocking (freezing) or rejecting transactions to ensure full compliance.
Overcoming the Challenges of Cross-Border Payments
Financial institutions face significant challenges in executing cross-border transactions, especially due to the complexity of differing regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. Navigating these rules requires time, expertise, and resources that many institutions struggle to maintain—let alone delivering on speed and customer expectations. Adding to the challenge, outdated legacy systems often lack the infrastructure to support modern, near-instant global payments. These systems can also expose institutions to security threats and fraud risks, which require expensive and complex safeguards. As businesses become more globally connected, banks and financial firms must adopt infrastructure and partners that can offer flexibility, security, and compliance—without slowing down operations.
HEC: Driving Innovation in Global Payment Infrastructure
As a company that processes over $10 billion in payments daily, HEC is a trusted force behind the scenes—powering cross-border and interregional payments across the world.
Our infrastructure, scale, and on-the-ground expertise allow us to smooth the way for fast, secure, and compliant payments from country to country.
“We’ve been a trusted partner for many years, providing the payment rails for many pioneering fintechs to help them send payments around the world faster, cheaper, and safer than ever before.” — Dave Tanner, Managing Director, HEC Financial Institution Group Sales
HEC brings that same innovation and reliability to our financial institution clients—helping them reduce risk, overcome compliance barriers, and gain access to markets and currencies around the world.