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OFAC sanctions Hizballah financier conduits
On April 24, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against two individuals and three entities “acting as conduits for sanctions evasion schemes" for Hizballah finances. The designated entities and individuals are also subject to secondary sanctions pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations, which implement the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015, and allows OFAC the authority to “prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for Hizballah, or a person acting on behalf of or at the direction of, or owned or controlled by, Hizballah.” As a result, all property and interests in property of the sanctioned individuals and entities, and of any entities owned 50 percent or more by them subject to U.S. jurisdiction, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. U.S. persons are also generally prohibited from entering into transactions with designated persons.
Visit here for additional InfoBytes coverage on sanctions involving Hizballah networks.
OFAC identifies non-U.S. financial institutions on new list of banks facing correspondent account sanctions
On March 14, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the introduction of the List of Foreign Financial Institutions Subject to Correspondent Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions (CAPTA list). The CAPTA list will identify foreign financial institutions that are prohibited from opening or maintaining correspondent or payable-through accounts in the U.S. pursuant to sanctions including the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, North Korea Sanctions Regulations, Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations, and the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015. Certain regulations have also been amended to reflect the issuance of the new list. OFAC notes that the CAPTA list, which is separate from the Specially Designated Nationals List, will identify the specific prohibitions or strict conditions to which foreign financial institutions are subject. Non-U.S. financial institutions engaging in activity targeted under the above-mentioned regulations risk being added to the CAPTA list.
OFAC sanctions individuals connected to Hizballah, IRGC-QF networks in Iraq
On November 13, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against four Hizballah-affiliated individuals for their alleged leadership roles in the group’s terrorist financial activities in Iraq, including providing support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). According to OFAC, the sanctions were issued pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which “targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.” OFAC’s designations follow the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2018—signed into law October 25—along with the reimposition of Iran-related sanctions on November 5 (see previous InfoBytes coverage here), and reinforces U.S. efforts to “protect the international financial system by targeting Hizballah’s supporters, financial networks, and those that facilitate and enable its destabilizing activities worldwide.” Furthermore, OFAC states that the four Specially Designated Global Terrorists are also subject to secondary sanctions under the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations, which implement the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015, and allows OFAC to “prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the [U.S.] of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for Hizballah.” As a result, all property and interests in property belonging to the identified individuals subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from entering into transactions with them.
Visit here for additional InfoBytes coverage on sanctions involving Hizballah networks.
OFAC further expands Iranian sanctions, includes Hizballah-associated individuals
On May 17, U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified two Hizballah-associated individuals for their alleged role in financing terrorist networks, in addition to five companies owned or controlled by one of the designated individuals, as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.” According to OFAC, the sanctions were issued pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (E.O. 13224), and designated individuals who had previously worked with the Central Bank of Iran, which was “recently identified as being complicit in facilitating the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force’s (IRGC-QF)] access to hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. currency, to expand banking access between Iran and Lebanon.” As covered earlier in InfoBytes, on May 15 OFAC sanctioned the governor and a senior official of the Central Bank of Iran for allegedly funneling millions of dollars on behalf of the IRGC-QF to Hizballah. The May 17 actions are designed to “further restrict Hizballah’s access to the U.S. financial system and the Iranian regime’s network of regional proxy groups.” As a result, all assets belonging to the identified individuals and entities subject to U.S. jurisdiction must be blocked and reported to OFAC, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.
Separately, on May 22, OFAC announced that five Iranian individuals who allegedly provided ballistic missile-related technical expertise on behalf of the IRGC-QF have also been sanctioned pursuant to E.O. 13224. In addition to freezing assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with the individuals, “foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for, or persons that provide material or certain other support to, the individuals and entities designated [] risk exposure to sanctions that could sever their access to the U.S. financial system or block their property and interests in property under U.S. jurisdiction.”
See here for continuing InfoBytes coverage of actions related to Iran.
OFAC sanctions Iranian bank officials, Iraqi bank, and others for moving millions of dollars to Hizballah
On May 15, U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced it was imposing sanctions on the governor and a senior official of the Central Bank of Iran, an Iraqi bank and its chairman, and a key Hizballah official, for allegedly funneling millions of dollars on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to Hizballah. Pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which “provides a means by which to disrupt the financial support network for terrorists and terrorist organizations by authorizing the U.S. government to designate and block the assets of foreign individuals and entities that commit, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism,” the individuals and entities were designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The actions, which follow a May 10 action taken against individuals and entities who materially assisted in the conversion of millions of U.S. dollars to fund IRGC-QF’s malignant activities, “seek to stifle Iran’s ability to abuse the U.S. and regional financial systems.”
However, OFAC clarified that sanctions on the officials of the Central Bank of Iran do not extend to the bank itself. Following President Trump's decision to cease participation by the U.S. government in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, sanctions on the bank will be re-imposed August 7, and on November 5, additional sanctions will be re-imposed on persons knowingly engaging in certain significant transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.
Visit here for additional InfoBytes coverage on Iranian sanctions.
OFAC issues sanctions against persons involved in Hizballah financial network
On February 2, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against six individuals and seven entities for providing financial support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. Issued pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which “provides a means by which to disrupt the financial support network for terrorists and terrorist organizations by authorizing the U.S. government to designate and block the assets of foreign individuals and entities that commit, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism,” the sanctions target the business operations of Hizballah and serve to further Treasury’s continued measures to “sever Hizballah from the international financial system.” OFAC stressed that, pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations, it has the authority to “prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the [U.S.] of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for Hizballah, or a person acting on behalf of or at the direction of, or owned or controlled by, Hizballah.” All property, or interests in property, held by the sanctioned individuals and entities within U.S. jurisdiction will be blocked, and transactions between the sanctioned individuals and entities and Americans are also “generally prohibited.”
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