On February 11, 2019, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) amended and issued two general licenses, General License 3C (“GL 3C”) and General License 9B (“GL 9B”), both related to Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (“PdVSA”) and entities 50% or more owned by PdVSA (“PdVSA Companies”), and revised three related FAQs, FAQs 650, 661, and 662 to provide updated guidance on GL 3C and GL 9B.
On January 31, 2019, OFAC issued eleven new FAQs and amended two existing FAQs in connection with the designation of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (“PdVSA”) as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) pursuant to Executive Order 13850 on January 28, 2019. In addition, on February 1, 2019, OFAC amended two PdVSA-related general licenses (“GL”) and issued two additional FAQs describing the scope of those amendments, which modify the terms under which certain transactions involving PdVSA bonds and securities are authorized. Our prior blog post on the SDN designation of PdVSA and the previously issued Venezuela GLs is available here.
On January 28, 2019, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (“PdVSA”) as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) under Executive Order 13850 of November 1, 2018 because it operates in the Venezuelan oil sector. As a result, US Persons (i.e., entities organized under US laws and their non-US branches; individuals and entities physically located in the United States; and US citizens and permanent resident aliens (“Green Card” holders) wherever located or employed) are prohibited, in the absence of an OFAC license, from transacting, directly or indirectly, with PdVSA and any entities owned 50% or more by PdVSA (“PdVSA Subs”). In addition, except as permitted under OFAC licenses, US Persons are required to block property or property interests of PdVSA/PdVSA Subs that are currently in the United States, come within the United States or the possession or control of any US Person.
On December 19, 2018, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) submitted a letter to congressional leaders (“Congressional Letter”) notifying Congress of its intent to terminate the sanctions imposed on En+ Group plc (“En+”), UC Rusal plc (“RUSAL”), and JSC EuroSibEnergo (“ESE”) in 30 days. On the same day, OFAC announced new sanctions against a number of individuals and entities for their involvement in a range of malign activities. Concurrently, the US Department of State announced it had added 12 individuals and entities to the List of Specified Persons under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”) for being part of, or operating for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sector of the Russian Federation.