Title 31

SECTION 594.201

594.201 Prohibited transactions involving blocked property.

§ 594.201 Prohibited transactions involving blocked property.

(a) Except as authorized by statutes, regulations, orders, directives, rulings, instructions, licenses or otherwise, and notwithstanding any contracts entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date, property and interests in property of the following persons that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that hereafter come within the possession or control of U.S. persons, including their overseas branches, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn or otherwise dealt in:

(1) Foreign persons listed in the Annex to Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, as may be amended;

(2) Foreign persons determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States;

(3) Persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, to be owned or controlled by, or to act for or on behalf of, any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), or (a)(4)(i) of this section;

(4) Except as provided in section 5 of Executive Order 13224, any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General:

(i) To assist in, sponsor, or provide financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of:

(A) Acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, or

(B) Any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section; or

(ii) To be otherwise associated with any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a)(1), (2), or (3) or (a)(4)(i) of this section;

(5) Foreign persons that are identified on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control as officials, agents, or affiliates of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC);

(6) Foreign persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to knowingly provide significant financial, material, or technological support for or to:

(i) Bayt al-Mal, Jihad al-Bina, the Islamic Resistance Support Association, the Foreign Relations Department of Hizballah, the External Security Organization of Hizballah, or any successor or affiliate thereof as designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State;

(ii) Al-Manar TV, al Nour Radio, or the Lebanese Media Group, or any successor or affiliate thereof as designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State;

(iii) A foreign person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to be engaged in fundraising or recruitment activities for Hizballah; or

(iv) A foreign person owned or controlled by a person described in paragraph (a)(6)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section;

(7) Agencies or instrumentalities of a foreign state determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to have, on or after October 25, 2018, knowingly:

(i) Conducted significant joint combat operations with, or significantly supported combat operations of, Hizballah; or

(ii) Provided significant financial support for or to, or significant arms or related materiel to, Hizballah;

(8) Foreign persons included on a list provided to Congress under paragraph (b) of Section 3 of the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-348) (Shields Act) because they have been determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, on or after December 21, 2018:

(i) To be a member of Hizballah or to be knowingly acting on behalf of Hizballah; and

(ii) To knowingly order, control, or otherwise direct the use of civilians protected as such by the law of war to shield military objectives from attack;

(9) Foreign persons included on a list provided to Congress under paragraph (b) of Section 3 of the Shields Act because they have been determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, on or after December 21, 2018:

(i) To be a member of HAMAS or to be knowingly acting on behalf of Hamas; and

(ii) To knowingly order, control, or otherwise direct the use of civilians protected as such by the law of war to shield military objectives from attack;

(10) Foreign persons, agencies, or instrumentalities of a foreign state, included on a list provided to Congress under paragraph (b) of Section 3 of the Shields Act because they have been determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, on or after December 21, 2018, to knowingly and materially support, order, control, direct, or otherwise engage in:

(i) Any act described in paragraph (a)(8)(ii) of this section by a person described in paragraph (a)(8) of this section; or

(ii) Any act described in paragraph (a)(9)(ii) of this section by a person described in paragraph (a)(9) of this section; or

(11) Foreign persons included on a list provided to Congress under paragraph (c) of Section 3 of the Shields Act because they have been determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, on or after December 21, 2018, to knowingly order, control, or otherwise direct the use of civilians protected as such by the law of war to shield military objectives from attack, and with respect to which the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, has exercised the authority to block all property and interests in property.

Note 1 to paragraph (a):

Section 5 of Executive Order 13224, as amended, provides that, with respect to those persons designated pursuant to paragraph (a)(4) of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury, in the exercise of his discretion and in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, may take such other actions than the complete blocking of property or interests in property as the President is authorized to take under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United Nations Participation Act if the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, deems such other actions to be consistent with the national interests of the United States, considering such factors as he deems appropriate.

Note 2 to paragraph (a) of § 594.201:

The names of persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to § 594.201(a) are published in the Federal Register and incorporated into the Office of Foreign Assets Control's SDN List with the identifier “[SDGT].” Persons who have been identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control as officials, agents, or affiliates of the IRGC are identified by a special reference to the “IRGC” at the end of their entries on the SDN List, in addition to the reference to this part. For example, an affiliate of the IRGC whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this part will have the program tags “[SDGT] [IRGC]” at the end of its entry on the SDN List. The SDN List is accessible through the following page on the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Web site: http://www.treasury.gov/sdn. Additional information pertaining to the SDN List can be found in appendix A to this chapter. See § 594.412 concerning entities that may not be listed on the SDN List but whose property and interests in property are nevertheless blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.

Note 3 to paragraph (a) of § 594.201:

Sections 501.806 and 501.807 of this chapter describe the procedures to be followed by persons seeking, respectively, the unblocking of funds that they believe were blocked due to mistaken identity, or administrative reconsideration of their status as persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.

(b) Unless otherwise authorized by this part or by a specific license expressly referring to this section, any dealing in any security (or evidence thereof) held within the possession or control of a U.S. person and either registered or inscribed in the name of or known to be held for the benefit of any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to § 594.201(a) is prohibited. This prohibition includes but is not limited to the transfer (including the transfer on the books of any issuer or agent thereof), disposition, transportation, importation, exportation, or withdrawal of any such security or the endorsement or guaranty of signatures on any such security. This prohibition applies irrespective of the fact that at any time (whether prior to, on, or subsequent to the effective date) the registered or inscribed owner of any such security may have or might appear to have assigned, transferred, or otherwise disposed of the security.

(c) The prohibitions in paragraph (a) of this section do not apply to the importation of any goods that would otherwise be prohibited solely due to the interest of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked solely pursuant to paragraph (a)(6) or (7) of this section. For the purposes of this paragraph (c), the term “goods” means any articles, natural or manmade substance, material, supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test equipment, and excluding technical data.

Note 1 to § 594.201:

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706), in Section 203 (50 U.S.C. 1702), authorizes the blocking of property and interests in property of a person during the pendency of an investigation. The names of persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pending investigation pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section also are published in the Federal Register and incorporated into the SDN List with the identifier “[BPI-PA]” or “[BPI-SDGT].” The scope of the property or interests in property blocked during the pendency of an investigation may be more limited than the scope of the blocking set forth in § 594.201(a). Inquiries regarding the scope of any such blocking should be directed to OFAC's Sanctions Compliance & Evaluation Division at 202/622-2490.

Note 2 to § 594.201.

The prohibitions set forth in this part are separate from and in addition to other parts of 31 CFR chapter V, including but not limited to the Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (part 595), the Terrorism List Government Sanctions Regulations (part 596), and the Foreign Terrorist Organizations Sanctions Regulations (part 597). The prohibitions set forth in this part also are separate and apart from the criminal prohibition, set forth at 18 U.S.C. 2339B, against providing material support or resources to foreign terrorist organizations designated pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended.

[68 FR 34197, June 6, 2003, as amended at 72 FR 4206, Jan. 30, 2007; 76 FR 38544, June 30, 2011; 78 FR 38575, June 27, 2013; 82 FR 50314, Oct. 31, 2017; 84 FR 35312, July 23, 2019]