[17242]
March 18, 2004
TO: COMPLIANCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 37-04
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE No. 16-04
INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 13-04
MONEY LAUNDERING RULES WORKING GROUP No. 10-04
PRIMARY CONTACTS - MEMBER COMPLEX No. 28-04
TRANSFER AGENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 28-04
RE: OFAC UPDATE -- CLARIFICATION ON IRAQI SANCTIONS REGULATIONS
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a bulletin today clarifying
the status of a number of entities as “parastatals” under the Iraqi Sanctions Regulations (ISR), 31
CFR 575.306. 1
In today’s bulletin, OFAC clarifies that certain listed entities are included in the term
"Government of Iraq" as that term is used in the ISR and are also state bodies, corporations or
agencies of the former Iraqi regime as described in Executive Order 13315 of August 29, 2003.
The property of these entities is subject to blocking pursuant to that Executive Order, but OFAC
has issued a General License permitting most transactions on or after August 29, 2003.2
As a result, under the ISR and a recent general license (31 CFR 575.533), assets of these
entities that were blocked on or before May 23, 2003, are to remain blocked. However,
transactions with these parastatals arising after May 23, 2003, are permitted subject to certain
limitations.
1 OFAC regulations require US persons, including investment companies, to block all accounts and assets of persons
or entities named by OFAC. For an overview of OFAC regulations and a description of the various measures that
mutual fund organizations may wish to consider adopting to ensure compliance with those regulations, refer to the
Institute’s paper entitled “Foreign Assets Control Compliance for Mutual Funds.” This paper is available on the
Institute’s members’ website at http://members.ici.org. The members’ website is password-protected; staff at
Institute member firms may request access codes by filling out the enrollment form on the website.
2 There is one exception. Iraqi State Enterprise for Foodstuffs Trading, has been previously identified as a Specially
Designated National (SDN) of Iraq. The general licenses mentioned above do not apply to SDNs. Consequently, all
transactions (whether before or after May 23, 2003) with the Iraqi State Enterprise for Foodstuffs Trading would
remain prohibited, unless specifically licensed by OFAC. This entry on the list of parastatals is marked with an
asterisk.
2
The full list of Iraqi parastatals can be found on the OFAC web site at
http://www.treas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/bulletin.txt. Full information about the ISR can be
found at http://www.treas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/sanctions/sanctguide-iraq.html.
Robert C. Grohowski
Associate Counsel