(a) Who must report—(1) Persons holding, unblocking, or transferring blocked property. Any U.S. person (or person subject to U.S. jurisdiction in the case of part 515 of this chapter), including a financial institution, holding, unblocking, or transferring property blocked pursuant to this chapter shall submit the relevant reports described in this section to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This requirement applies to all U.S. persons (or persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction in the case of part 515 of this chapter), who have in their possession or control any property blocked pursuant to this chapter, including financial institutions that receive and block payments or transfers, or who have had in their possession or control such property that is unblocked or transferred, as set out in paragraph (b) of this section.

(2) Primary responsibility to report. A report may be filed on behalf of a person who holds, transfers, or releases blocked property by an attorney, agent, or other person. Primary responsibility for reporting, however, rests with the actual holder, transferrer, or releaser of the property, or the person exercising control over property located outside the United States, with the following exceptions: primary responsibility for reporting any trust assets rests with the trustee; and primary responsibility for reporting real property rests with any U.S. co-owner, legal representative, agent, or property manager in the United States. No person is excused from filing a report by reason of the fact that another person has submitted a report with regard to the same property, except upon actual knowledge of the report filed by such other person.

(3) Financial institution. For purposes of this section, the term “financial institution” includes a banking institution, domestic bank, United States depository institution, financial institution, or U.S. financial institution, as those terms are defined in the applicable part of this chapter.

(b) What must be reported—(1) Initial blocking reports—(i) When reports are due. Reports shall be filed within 10 business days from the date that property becomes blocked.

(ii) Required information to be reported. Initial reports on blocked property shall include the following:

(A) The name and address of the person holding the property blocked pursuant to this chapter (i.e., the person filing the report on blocked property, such as a financial institution), and the name, telephone number, and email address of a contact from whom additional information may be obtained;

(B) A description of any transaction associated with the blocking, including: The type of transaction; any persons, including financial institutions, participating in the transaction and their respective locations (e.g., if relevant, customers, beneficiaries, originators, letter of credit applicants, and their banks; intermediary banks; correspondent banks; issuing banks; and advising or confirming banks); and any reference numbers, dates, or other information necessary to identify the transaction;

(C) The associated sanctions target(s) whose property is blocked (such as a Specially Designated National or other blocked person), the location(s) of the target(s) (if known), and, if not evident, a narrative description of the interest(s) of the target(s) in the property; if there is no target or the target is not known, include a reference to the relevant written communication from OFAC pursuant to which the blocking action was taken;

(D) A description of the property that is the subject of the blocking and its location in the United States or otherwise, including any relevant account numbers and account types, check numbers, reference numbers, dates, or other information necessary to identify the property;

(E) The date the property was blocked;

(F) The actual, or if unknown, estimated value of the property in U.S. Dollars. If the blocked property represents an outstanding loan, a credit card receivable, or other property with a negative balance, the amount blocked should be reported as $0.00 (zero) with the amount owed reflected in a narrative description. Blocked trade finance documents should also be reported as $0.00 (zero) with the value of the shipment reflected in a narrative description. Transactions blocked in foreign currencies must be reported in U.S. Dollars with the foreign currency amount and notional exchange rate in the narrative;

(G) Any action taken with respect to the property (e.g., depositing the property into a new or existing blocked, interest-bearing account that is labeled as such and is established in the name of, or contains a means of clearly identifying the interest of, the person subject to blocking pursuant to the requirements of this chapter);

(H) The legal authority or authorities under which the property is blocked. This may include a reference to the sanctions program (current programs are on OFAC's website: https://ofac.treasury.gov), the applicable part of this chapter (e.g., 31 CFR part 515, 31 CFR part 544), an Executive order (E.O.) (e.g., E.O. 13224, E.O. 13599), or a statute (e.g., Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act). (Note: For this purpose, the term “SDN” is generic and cannot be used to identify the legal authority for blocking property); and

(I) A copy of any payment or transfer instructions, check, letter of credit, accompanying bill of lading, invoice, or any other relevant documentation received in connection with any related transaction.

(2) Annual reports of blocked property—(i) When reports are due. A report on all blocked property held as of June 30 of the current year shall be filed annually by September 30.

(ii) Required information to be reported. Annual reports on blocked property shall include the following:

(A) The name and address of the person holding the property blocked pursuant to this chapter (i.e., the person filing the report on blocked property, such as a financial institution), and the name, telephone number, and email address of a contact from whom additional information may be obtained;

(B) The number of accounts or items reported in the annual report;

(C) Beginning with the annual report due no later than September 30, 2020, and for each subsequent reporting year, the associated sanctions target(s) whose property is blocked, such as a Specially Designated National or other blocked person, the location(s) of the target(s), if known, and, if not evident, a narrative description of the interest(s) of the target(s) in the transaction; if there is no target or the target is not known, include a reference to the relevant written communication from OFAC pursuant to which the blocking action was taken;

(D) A description of the property that is the subject of the blocking and its location in the United States or otherwise, including any relevant account numbers and account types, check numbers, reference numbers, dates, or other information necessary to identify the property;

(E) The date the property was blocked;

(F) The actual, or if unknown, estimated value of the property in U.S. Dollars as of June 30. If a June 30 value date is not available and a value date other than June 30 is reported, so indicate. If the blocked property represents an outstanding loan, a credit card receivable, or other property with a negative balance, the amount blocked should be reported as $0.00 (zero) with the amount owed reflected in a narrative description. Blocked trade finance documents should also be reported as $0.00 (zero) with the value of the shipment reflected in a narrative description. Transactions blocked in foreign currencies must be reported in U.S. Dollars with the foreign currency amount and notional exchange rate in the narrative;

(G) The legal authority or authorities under which the property is blocked. This may include a reference to the sanctions program (current programs are listed here: www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/SDN-List/Pages/program_tags.aspx), the applicable part of this chapter (e.g., 31 CFR part 515, 31 CFR part 544), an Executive order (E.O.) (e.g., E.O. 13224, E.O. 13599), or a statute (e.g., Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act). (Note: For this purpose, the term “SDN” is generic and cannot be used to identify the legal authority for blocking property).

(3) Reports of blocked property that is unblocked or transferred—(i) When reports are due. Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(3)(i)(A) through (D) of this section, reports shall be submitted to OFAC within 10 business days from the date blocked property is unblocked or transferred. For example, such reports must be filed when blocked property is unblocked or transferred pursuant to a valid order from a U.S. Government agency or U.S. court, including pursuant to a valid judicial order issued pursuant to section 201(a) of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (Pub. L. 107-297, 116 Stat. 2322, 28 U.S.C. 1610 note) or a valid order of forfeiture by any U.S. Government agency or U.S. court. Reports do not need to be filed under this section for:

(A) Authorized debits to blocked accounts for normal service charges;

(B) Authorized transfers of funds or credit by a financial institution between blocked accounts in its branches or offices;

(C) Unblocking or transfer of blocked property that is explicitly authorized by a specific or general license, unless the specific or general license includes a condition requiring the submission of a separate unblocking report; or

(D) Unblocking of blocked property pursuant to OFAC's removal of a person from OFAC's List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List).

(ii) Required information to be reported. Reports on the release of property from blocked status (i.e., property that is unblocked) shall include the following:

(A) The name and address of the person holding the property immediately prior to the property's release from blocked status (i.e., the person filing the unblocking or transfer report, such as a financial institution), and the name, telephone number, and email address of a contact from whom additional information may be obtained;

(B) The associated sanctions target(s) whose property had been previously blocked and was released from blocked status, such as a Specially Designated National or other blocked person, the location(s) of the target(s), if known, and, if not evident, a narrative description of the interest(s) of the target(s) in the previously blocked property or transaction; if there is no target or the target is not known, include a reference to the relevant written communication from OFAC pursuant to which the blocking action was taken;

(C) A description of the property that has been unblocked and its location in the United States or otherwise immediately prior to its release from blocked status, including any relevant account numbers and account types, check numbers, reference numbers, dates, or other information necessary to identify the property;

(D) The date the property was unblocked;

(E) The actual value of the property that was released from blocked status in U.S. Dollars. If the property represented an outstanding loan, a credit card receivable, or other property with a negative balance, the amount unblocked should be reported as $0.00 (zero) with the amount owed reflected in a narrative description. Trade finance documents should also be reported as $0.00 (zero) with the value of the shipment reflected in a narrative description. Transactions that were previously blocked in foreign currencies and were unblocked in a foreign currency must be reported in U.S. Dollars with the foreign currency amount and notional exchange rate in the narrative;

(F) The legal authority or authorities under which the property was unblocked or transferred. This may include, for example, reference to a specific or general license under an applicable part of this chapter or an E.O.; and

(G) A copy of the original blocking report filed with OFAC pursuant to § 501.603(b)(1) and the OFAC Reporting System report identification numbers, when available.

(c) Reports on retained funds pursuant to § 596.504(b) of this chapter. The reporting requirements set forth in this section are applicable to any person retaining funds pursuant to § 596.504(b) or releasing such funds.

(d) How to report. (1) Except as otherwise provided, all initial reports of blocked property required under § 501.603(b)(1) and the Annual Reports of Blocked Property required under § 501.603(b)(2) must be filed electronically through the OFAC Reporting System (ORS), available on OFAC's website, https://ofac.treasury.gov/ofac-reporting-system. While blocked funds may be maintained in omnibus accounts, the Annual Reports of Blocked Property must contain a disaggregated list showing each blocked asset contained within the omnibus account. A copy of reports submitted pursuant to this section shall be retained for the submitter's records. If a submitter can provide evidence of unique and extraordinary circumstances that would not allow the submitter to use ORS, such as lack of access to the internet, the submitter may request to submit reports in an alternative manner by calling 202/622-2490. Such requests will be subject to a presumption of denial and granted only in writing.

(2) All reports of unblocked or transferred blocked property required pursuant to § 501.603(b)(3) must be submitted electronically to OFAC via email at [email protected], with the number of this section in the subject line, or through ORS, available on OFAC's website, https://ofac.treasury.gov/ofac-reporting-system. If a submitter can provide evidence of unique and extraordinary circumstances that would not allow the submitter to report electronically, such as lack of access to the internet, the submitter may request to submit reports in an alternative manner by calling 202/622-2490. Such requests will be subject to a presumption of denial and granted only in writing.

(e) Rules governing availability of information. Information submitted to OFAC pursuant to this section will be protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552) and the provisions of 31 CFR part 1 if OFAC reasonably foresees that disclosure would harm an interest protected by a FOIA exemption or disclosure is prohibited by law. See 31 CFR 1.5 for additional provisions relating to confidential commercial information.