Source: http://ecfr.io/Title-31/pt31.3.544
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 01:45:17
Document Index: 408174374

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 544', 'art 544', 'art 544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', 'art 539', 'art 539', '§544', 'art 539', '§544', 'art 539', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', 'arts 730', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§501', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§501', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544', '§544']

[31 CFR 544] Title 31 Part 544 : Code of Federal Regulations ';
Title 31 Part 544
Title 31 → Subtitle B → Chapter V → Part 544
§544.101 Relation of this part to other laws and regulations.
§544.201 Prohibited transactions involving blocked property.
§544.202 Effect of transfers violating the provisions of this part.
§544.203 Holding of funds in interest-bearing accounts; investment and reinvestment.
§544.204 Expenses of maintaining blocked physical property; liquidation of blocked property.
§544.205 Evasions; attempts; conspiracies.
§544.206 Exempt transactions.
§544.301 Blocked account; blocked property.
§544.302 Effective date.
§544.303 Entity.
§544.304 Information or informational materials.
§544.305 Interest.
§544.306 Licenses; general and specific.
§544.307 Person.
§544.308 Property; property interest.
§544.309 Transfer.
§544.310 United States.
§544.311 U.S. financial institution.
§544.312 United States person; U.S. person.
§544.401 Reference to amended sections.
§544.402 Effect of amendment.
§544.403 Termination and acquisition of an interest in blocked property.
§544.404 Transactions ordinarily incident to a licensed transaction.
§544.405 Provision of services.
§544.406 Offshore transactions.
§544.407 Payments from blocked accounts to satisfy obligations prohibited.
§544.408 Charitable contributions.
§544.409 Credit extended and cards issued by U.S. financial institutions.
§544.410 Setoffs prohibited.
§544.411 Entities owned by a person whose property and interests in property are blocked.
§544.501 General and specific licensing procedures.
§544.502 Effect of license or authorization.
§544.503 Exclusion from licenses.
§544.504 Payments and transfers to blocked accounts in U.S. financial institutions.
§544.505 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.
§544.506 Investment and reinvestment of certain funds.
§544.507 Provision of certain legal services authorized.
§544.508 Authorization of emergency medical services.
§544.601 Records and reports.
§544.701 Penalties.
§544.702 Pre-Penalty Notice; settlement.
§544.703 Penalty imposition.
§544.704 Administrative collection; referral to United States Department of Justice.
§544.801 Procedures.
§544.802 Delegation by the Secretary of the Treasury.
§544.901 Paperwork Reduction Act notice.
Note to §544.101: The sanctions implemented pursuant to the Weapons of Mass Destruction Trade Control Regulations set forth in part 539 of this chapter are separate and distinct from the sanctions implemented pursuant to this part, even though both programs have been imposed pursuant to the same declaration of national emergency in Executive Order 12938 of November 14, 1994. Accordingly, a “designated foreign person” whose goods, technology, or services are prohibited from being imported into the United States under part 539 is not necessarily a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a). Consequently, the property and interests in property of a “designated foreign person” under part 539 are not blocked, unless the “designated foreign person” has separately become a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) or any other part of 31 CFR chapter V. Note, however, that the importation into the United States of goods, technology, or services (other than information or informational materials) produced or provided by a “designated foreign person” under part 539 is prohibited by that part.
(a) Except as authorized by 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, all property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of U.S. persons, including their overseas branches, of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:
(1) Any person listed in the Annex to Executive Order 13382 of June 28, 2005 (70 FR 38567, July 1, 2005);
(2) Any foreign person determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and other relevant agencies, to have engaged, or attempted to engage, in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery (including missiles capable of delivering such weapons), including any efforts to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer or use such items, by any person or foreign country of proliferation concern;
(3) Any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and other relevant agencies, to have provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, any activity or transaction described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this section; and
(4) Any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and other relevant agencies, to be owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this section.
Note 1 to paragraph (a) of §544.201: The names of persons listed in or designated pursuant to Executive Order 13382, whose property and interests in property therefore are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, are published in the Federal Register and incorporated into the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (“SDN List”) with the identifier “[NPWMD].” 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 §544.411 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 2 to paragraph (a) of §544.201: 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-NPWMD].”
Note 3 to paragraph (a) of §544.201: 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.
[74 FR 16773, Apr. 13, 2009, as amended at 76 FR 38537, June 30, 2011]
(a) Any transfer after the effective date that is in violation of any provision of this part or of any regulation, order, directive, ruling, instruction, or license issued pursuant to this part, and that involves any property or interest in property blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), is null and void and shall not be the basis for the assertion or recognition of any interest in or right, remedy, power, or privilege with respect to such property or property interests.
(b) No transfer before the effective date shall be the basis for the assertion or recognition of any right, remedy, power, or privilege with respect to, or any interest in, any property or interest in property blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), unless the person who holds or maintains such property, prior to that date, had written notice of the transfer or by any written evidence had recognized such transfer.
(c) Unless otherwise provided, an appropriate license or other authorization issued by or pursuant to the direction or authorization of the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control before, during, or after a transfer shall validate such transfer or make it enforceable to the same extent that it would be valid or enforceable but for the provisions of IEEPA, Executive Order 13382, this part, and any regulation, order, directive, ruling, instruction, or license issued pursuant to this part.
Note to paragraph (d) of §544.202: The filing of a report in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (d)(3) of this section shall not be deemed evidence that the terms of paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(2) of this section have been satisfied.
(e) Unless licensed pursuant to this part, any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is null and void with respect to any property in which, on or since the effective date, there existed an interest of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a).
(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (c) or (d) of this section, or as otherwise directed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, any U.S. person holding funds, such as currency, bank deposits, or liquidated financial obligations, subject to §544.201(a) shall hold or place such funds in a blocked interest-bearing account located in the United States.
(c) Blocked funds held in instruments the maturity of which exceeds 180 days at the time the funds become subject to §544.201(a) may continue to be held until maturity in the original instrument, provided any interest, earnings, or other proceeds derived therefrom are paid into a blocked interest-bearing account in accordance with paragraphs (b) or (d) of this section.
(d) Blocked funds held in accounts or instruments outside the United States at the time the funds become subject to §544.201(a) may continue to be held in the same type of accounts or instruments, provided the funds earn interest at rates that are commercially reasonable.
(f) Funds subject to this section may not be held, invested, or reinvested in a manner that provides immediate financial or economic benefit or access to any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), nor may their holder cooperate in or facilitate the pledging or other attempted use as collateral of blocked funds or other assets.
(a) Except as otherwise authorized, and notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date, all expenses incident to the maintenance of physical property blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) shall be the responsibility of the owners or operators of such property, which expenses shall not be met from blocked funds.
(b) Property blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) may, in the discretion of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, be sold or liquidated and the net proceeds placed in a blocked interest-bearing account in the name of the owner of the property.
(b) Information or informational materials. (1) The importation from any country and the exportation to any country of any information or informational materials, as defined in §544.304, whether commercial or otherwise, regardless of format or medium of transmission, are exempt from the prohibitions of this part.
(2) This section does not exempt from regulation or authorize transactions related to information or informational materials not fully created and in existence at the date of the transactions, or to the substantive or artistic alteration or enhancement of informational materials, or to the provision of marketing and business consulting services. Such prohibited transactions include, but are not limited to, payment of advances for information or informational materials not yet created and completed (with the exception of prepaid subscriptions for widely circulated magazines and other periodical publications); provision of services to market, produce or co-produce, create, or assist in the creation of information or informational materials; and, with respect to information or informational materials imported from persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), payment of royalties with respect to income received for enhancements or alterations made by U.S. persons to such information or informational materials.
(3) This section does not exempt or authorize transactions incident to the exportation of software subject to the Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR parts 730-774, or to the exportation of goods, technology, or software for use in the transmission of any data, or to the provision, sale, or leasing of capacity on telecommunications transmission facilities (such as satellite or terrestrial network connectivity) for use in the transmission of any data. The exportation of such items or services and the provision, sale, or leasing of such capacity or facilities to a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) are prohibited.
The terms blocked account and blocked property shall mean any account or property subject to the prohibitions in §544.201 held in the name of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), or in which such person has an interest, and with respect to which payments, transfers, exportations, withdrawals, or other dealings may not be made or effected except pursuant to an authorization or license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control expressly authorizing such action.
Note to §544.301: See §544.411 concerning the blocked status of property and interests in property of an entity that is 50 percent or more owned by a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a).
(a) With respect to a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a)(1), 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, June 29, 2005; and
(b) With respect to a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a)(2), (a)(3), or (a)(4), the earlier of the date of actual or constructive notice of such person's designation.
Note to paragraph (a) of §544.304: To be considered information or informational materials, artworks must be classified under chapter heading 9701, 9702, or 9703 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
Note to §544.306: See §501.801 of this chapter on licensing procedures.
The term U.S. financial institution means any U.S. entity (including its foreign branches) that is engaged in the business of accepting deposits, making, granting, transferring, holding, or brokering loans or credits, or purchasing or selling foreign exchange, securities, commodity futures or options, or procuring purchasers and sellers thereof, as principal or agent; including but not limited to depository institutions, banks, savings banks, trust companies, securities brokers and dealers, commodity futures and options brokers and dealers, forward contract and foreign exchange merchants, securities and commodities exchanges, clearing corporations, investment companies, employee benefit plans, and U.S. holding companies, U.S. affiliates, or U.S. subsidiaries of any of the foregoing. This term includes those branches, offices and agencies of foreign financial institutions that are located in the United States, but not such institutions' foreign branches, offices, or agencies.
(a) Whenever a transaction licensed or authorized by or pursuant to this part results in the transfer of property (including any property interest) away from a person, such property shall no longer be deemed to be property blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), unless there exists in the property another interest that is blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) or any other part of this chapter, the transfer of which has not been effected pursuant to license or other authorization.
(b) Unless otherwise specifically provided in a license or authorization issued pursuant to this part, if property (including any property interest) is transferred or attempted to be transferred to a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), such property shall be deemed to be property in which that person has an interest and therefore blocked.
(a) An ordinarily incident transaction, not explicitly authorized within the terms of the license, by or with a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a); or
(c) Example. A license authorizing Company A, whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), to complete a securities sale also authorizes all activities by other parties required to complete the sale, including transactions by the buyer, broker, transfer agents, banks, etc., provided that such other parties are not themselves persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a).
(a) Except as provided in §544.206, the prohibitions on transactions involving blocked property contained in §544.201 apply to services performed in the United States or by U.S. persons, wherever located, including by an overseas branch of an entity located in the United States:
(1) On behalf of or for the benefit of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a); or
(2) With respect to property interests subject to §544.201.
(b) Example: U.S. persons may not, except as authorized by or pursuant to this part, provide legal, accounting, financial, brokering, freight forwarding, transportation, public relations, or other services to a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a).
Note to §544.405: See §§544.507 and 544.508 on licensing policy with regard to the provision of certain legal and medical services.
The prohibitions in §544.201 on transactions or dealings involving blocked property apply to transactions by any U.S. person in a location outside the United States with respect to property held in the name of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), or property in which a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) has or has had an interest since the effective date.
Pursuant to §544.201, no debits may be made to a blocked account to pay obligations to U.S. persons or other persons, except as authorized by or pursuant to this part.
Unless specifically authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control pursuant to this part, no charitable contribution of funds, goods, services, or technology, including contributions to relieve human suffering, such as food, clothing, or medicine, may be made by, to, or for the benefit of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a). For the purposes of this part, a contribution is made by, to, or for the benefit of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) if made by, to, or in the name of such a person; if made by, to, or in the name of an entity or individual acting for or on behalf of, or owned or controlled by, such a person; or if made in an attempt to violate, to evade, or to avoid the bar on the provision of contributions by, to, or for the benefit of such a person.
The prohibition in §544.201 on dealing in property subject to that section prohibits U.S. financial institutions from performing under any existing credit agreements, including, but not limited to, charge cards, debit cards, or other credit facilities issued by a U.S. financial institution to a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a).
A setoff against blocked property (including a blocked account), whether by a U.S. bank or other U.S. person, is a prohibited transfer under §544.201 if effected after the effective date.
(b) No regulation, ruling, instruction, or license authorizes any transaction prohibited under this part unless the regulation, ruling, instruction or license is issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and specifically refers to this part. No regulation, ruling, instruction, or license referring to this part shall be deemed to authorize any transaction prohibited by any other provision of this chapter unless the regulation, ruling, instruction, or license specifically refers to such provision.
Any payment of funds or transfer of credit in which a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) has any interest that comes within the possession or control of a U.S. financial institution must be blocked in an account on the books of that financial institution. A transfer of funds or credit by a U.S. financial institution between blocked accounts in its branches or offices is authorized, provided that no transfer is made from an account within the United States to an account held outside the United States, and further provided that a transfer from a blocked account may be made only to another blocked account held in the same name.
Note to §544.504: See §501.603 of this chapter for mandatory reporting requirements regarding financial transfers. See also §544.203 concerning the obligation to hold blocked funds in interest-bearing accounts.
Subject to the requirements of §544.203, U.S. financial institutions are authorized to invest and reinvest assets blocked pursuant to §544.201, subject to the following conditions:
(c) No immediate financial or economic benefit accrues (e.g., through pledging or other use) to persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a).
(a) The provision of the following legal services to or on behalf of persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) is authorized, provided that all receipts of payment of professional fees and reimbursement of incurred expenses must be specifically licensed:
(b) The provision of any other legal services to persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a), not otherwise authorized in this part, requires the issuance of a specific license.
(c) Entry into a settlement agreement or the enforcement of any lien, judgment, arbitral award, decree, or other order through execution, garnishment, or other judicial process purporting to transfer or otherwise alter or affect property or interests in property blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) is prohibited unless specifically licensed in accordance with §544.202(e).
The provision of nonscheduled emergency medical services in the United States to persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to §544.201(a) is authorized, provided that all receipt of payment for such services must be specifically licensed.
[74 FR 16773, Apr. 13, 2009, as amended at 81 FR 43075, July 1, 2016; 82 FR 10437, Feb. 10, 2017; 83 FR 11879, Mar. 19, 2018]
Any action that the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to take pursuant to Executive Order 13382 of June 28, 2005 (70 FR 38567, July 1, 2005), and any further Executive Orders relating to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12938 of November 14, 1994, as expanded by Executive Order 13094 of July 28, 1998, and with respect to which additional steps were taken in Executive Order 13382 of June 28, 2005, may be taken by the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control or by any other person to whom the Secretary of the Treasury has delegated authority so to act.