TITLE II—NEW SANCTIONS AU-
THORITIES WITH RESPECT TO 
IRANIAN BANKS 
SEC. 201. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On May 8, 2018, the President issued Na-
tional Security Presidential Memorandum 11 enti-
tled ‘‘Ceasing United States Participation in the 
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Taking Ad-
ditional Action to Counter Iran’s Malign Influence 
and Deny Iran All Paths to a Nuclear Weapon’’, 
that— 
(A) established that ‘‘it is in the national 
interest of the United States to re-impose sanc-
tions lifted or waived in connection with the 
JCPOA as expeditiously as possible’’; and 
(B) instructed the Secretary of State and 
the Secretary of the Treasury to ‘‘immediately 
begin taking steps to reimpose all United States 
sanctions lifted or waived in connection with the 
JCPOA, including those under the National De-
fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, 
the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, the Iran 
Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act 
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of 2012, and the Iran Freedom and Counter-
proliferation Act of 2012’’. 
(2) Section 1245(b) of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 
8513a(b)) designated the financial sector of Iran, in-
cluding the Central Bank of Iran, as a jurisdiction 
of primary money laundering concern for purposes 
of section 5318A of title 31, United States Code, 
‘‘because of the threat to government and financial 
institutions resulting from the illicit activities of the 
Government of Iran, including its pursuit of nuclear 
weapons, support for international terrorism, and ef-
forts to deceive responsible financial institutions and 
evade sanctions’’. 
(3) Since October 2007, the Financial Action 
Task Force, an intergovernmental organization that 
sets standards and promotes implementation of 
measures to combat money laundering, terrorist fi-
nancing, and related threats to the integrity of the 
international financial system, identified Iran as pos-
ing a ‘‘significant vulnerability within the inter-
national financial system’’ due to deficiencies in 
Iran’s antimoney laundering efforts and efforts to 
combat the financing of terrorism (collectively known 
as Iran’s AML/CFT regime). 
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(4) On November 25, 2011, the Secretary of 
the Treasury issued a finding under section 5318A 
of title 31, United States Code, that reasonable 
grounds exist for concluding that Iran is a jurisdic-
tion of primary money laundering concern. 
(5) Since June 2016, the Financial Action Task 
Force has ‘‘welcomed Iran’s high-level political com-
mitment to address its strategic AML/CFT defi-
ciencies, and its decision to seek technical assistance 
in the implementation of the Action Plan’’, but— 
(A) on September 2, 2017, Iranian De-
fense Minister Amir Hatami stated that Iran 
would increase its support for terrorist groups 
such as Hezbollah, stating that ‘‘perhaps the 
main fear of the arrogant powers about our re-
lationship with the resistance axis is that they 
do not want such a pattern to see the light of 
day’’; 
(B) on October 8, 2018, the Iranian par-
liament approved a bill authorizing Iran to join 
the International Convention for the Suppres-
sion of the Financing of Terrorism, but in-
cluded exemptions for continued financing of 
terror organizations such as Hamas and 
Hezbollah; and 
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(C) on October 19, 2018, the Financial 
Action Task Force issued a statement noting 
that ‘‘Iran’s action plan expired in January 
2018 . . . [and] the majority of the Action 
Plan remains outstanding . . . Until Iran im-
plements the measures required to address the 
deficiencies identified in the Action Plan, the 
FATF will remain concerned with the terrorist 
financing risk emanating from Iran and the 
threat this poses to the international financial 
system.’’. 
(6) On October 11, 2018, the Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network issued an advisory that 
‘‘Some of the methods used by the Iranian regime 
to access the financial system through covert means 
and to further its malign activities include misusing 
banks and exchange houses, operating procurement 
networks that utilize front or shell companies, ex-
ploiting commercial shipping, and masking illicit 
transactions using senior officials . . . FinCEN ex-
pects that Iranian financial institutions, the Iranian 
regime, and its officials will increase their efforts to 
evade U.S. sanctions to fund malign activities and 
secure hard currency for the Government of Iran, 
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following the re-imposition of sanctions lifted under 
the JCPOA.’’. 
SEC. 202. ISSUANCE OF FINAL RULE REGARDING APPLICA-
TION OF SPECIAL MEASURES WITH RESPECT 
TO IRAN IN CONNECTION WITH DESIGNATION 
AS JURISDICTION OF PRIMARY MONEY LAUN-
DERING CONCERN. 
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue 
a final rule pursuant to section 5318A of title 31, United 
States Code, that— 
(1) applies the measures described in paragraph 
(5) of subsection (b) of that section with respect to 
Iran; and 
(2) applies such other measures described in 
that subsection with respect to Iran as the Secretary 
considers appropriate. 
SEC. 203. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FI-
NANCIAL SECTOR OF IRAN. 
(a) SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SECTORS OF THE 
ECONOMY OF IRAN.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 1244 of the Iran 
Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (22 
U.S.C. 8803) is amended— 
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