WASHINGTON—Aon International Energy Inc. has agreed to a $36,000 settlement with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control in connection with placing coverage and paying premiums for facultative retrocession reinsurance associated with petrochemical projects in Iran in 2005.

OFAC, which is part of the U.S. Treasury Department, administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, including those engaged in “threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.”

The settlement is significant because it is the first publicly announced resolution of an enforcement action involving the reinsurance industry, said Deirdre G. Johnson, a partner with law firm Crowell & Moring L.L.P. in Washington.

According to its Jan. 31 announcement of the settlement, OFAC alleged that Houston-based Aon Energy, a unit of Chicago-based Aon Corp., in October 2005 facilitated the placement of coverage and the payment of premiums for facultative retrocession reinsurance that reinsured construction risks associated with a petroleum project on Kharg Island in Iran.

Aon brokered and placed the reinsurance on behalf of a European reinsurer with two European retrocessionaires, none of which were identified. The combined premium for the two retrocession reinsurance placements was $62,883.

“Aon Energy did not disclose this matter to OFAC,” the agency said in the announcement. The settlement reflects OFAC’s consideration of several factors, including that Aon Energy provides specialized insurance services “resulting in transactions that were particularly harmful to the sanctions program” and that OFAC viewed the apparent violations “as part of a pattern of reckless, but not egregious, conduct by Aon Energy in connection with these policies.”

The statement noted, however, that Aon Corp. has taken several steps to strengthen its OFAC compliance program and its existing OFAC procedures, that it has not been subject to prior OFAC penalties and that it has been cooperative.

In a statement Tuesday, Aon said when the issue was brought to its attention in 2006, “we immediately began collaborating” with OFAC to resolve the matter “and to further enhance our compliance policies and procedures around trade restrictions, to ensure they meet the requirements and expectations of OFAC. Aon prides itself on its high standards of business conduct and has addressed OFAC’s concerns with the utmost seriousness. We respect and accept OFAC’s position and we consider this matter closed.”

An Aon spokesman had no further comment.

Ms. Johnson, who defends insurers and reinsurers, said OFAC’s enforcement action is “much more significant than the monetary amount of the penalty” and is a way for OFAC “to reach European and non-U.S. persons that might not otherwise be subject to OFAC jurisdiction. They went after” the U.S. broker that placed the cover, she said. “There can be other enforcement actions coming down the pike.”