Regulations last checked for updates: Nov 25, 2024

Title 31 - Money and Finance: Treasury last revised: Nov 18, 2024
§ 578.201 - Prohibited transactions.

(a) All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that come within the United States, or that are or come within the possession or control of any U.S. person of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:

(1) Annex to E.O. 13694, as amended by E.O. 13757 (“amended E.O. 13694”). The persons listed in the Annex to amended E.O. 13694;

(2) Amended E.O. 13694. Any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State:

(i) To be responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in, directly or indirectly, cyber-enabled activities originating from, or directed by persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States that are reasonably likely to result in, or have materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States and that have the purpose or effect of:

(A) Harming, or otherwise significantly compromising the provision of services by, a computer or network of computers that support one or more entities in a critical infrastructure sector;

(B) Significantly compromising the provision of services by one or more entities in a critical infrastructure sector;

(C) Causing a significant disruption to the availability of a computer or network of computers;

(D) Causing a significant misappropriation of funds or economic resources, trade secrets, personal identifiers, or financial information for commercial or competitive advantage or private financial gain; or

(E) Tampering with, altering, or causing a misappropriation of information with the purpose or effect of interfering with or undermining election processes or institutions;

(ii) To be responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in, the receipt or use for commercial or competitive advantage or private financial gain, or by a commercial entity, outside the United States of trade secrets misappropriated through cyber-enabled means, knowing they have been misappropriated, where the misappropriation of such trade secrets is reasonably likely to result in, or has materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States;

(iii) To have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any activity described in paragraph (a)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of this section or this paragraph (a)(2);

(iv) To be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of this section or this paragraph (a)(2); or

(v) To have attempted to engage in any of the activities described in paragraphs (a)(2)(i) through (iv) of this section; and

(3) Section 224(a)(1) of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9524) (CAATSA). Any person that the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determines:

(i) Knowingly engages in significant activities undermining cybersecurity against any person, including a democratic institution, or government on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation; or

(ii) Is owned or controlled by, or acts or purports to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, a person described in paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this section.

(b) The prohibitions in paragraph (a) of this section include prohibitions on the following transactions:

(1) The making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section; and

(2) The receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.

(c) Unless authorized by this part or by a specific license expressly referring to this part, any dealing in securities (or evidence thereof) held within the possession or control of a U.S. person and either registered or inscribed in the name of, or known to be held for the benefit of, or issued by, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section is prohibited. This prohibition includes the transfer (including the transfer on the books of any issuer or agent thereof), disposition, transportation, importation, exportation, or withdrawal of, or the endorsement or guaranty of signatures on, any securities on or after the effective date. This prohibition applies irrespective of the fact that at any time (whether prior to, on, or subsequent to the effective date) the registered or inscribed owner of any such securities may have or might appear to have assigned, transferred, or otherwise disposed of the securities.

(d) The prohibitions in paragraph (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this part, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date.

(e) All transactions prohibited pursuant to any Executive order issued after December 28, 2016, pursuant to the national emergency declared in E.O. 13694 of April 1, 2015, are prohibited pursuant to this part.

Note 1 to § 578.201.

The names of persons designated or identified as blocked pursuant to amended E.O. 13694, or any further Executive orders issued pursuant to the national emergency declared therein, whose property and interests in property therefore are blocked pursuant to this section, are published in the Federal Register and incorporated into OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) using the following identifiers: for amended E.O. 13694: “[CYBER2]”; and for any further Executive orders issued pursuant to the national emergency declared in E.O. 13694: using the identifier formulation “[CYBER-E.O.[E.O. number pursuant to which the person's property and interests in property are blocked]].” Persons designated pursuant to Section 224(a)(1) of CAATSA will have the identifier “[CAATSA-RUSSIA]”. Certain transactions with persons blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section relating to the Russian Federation may result in the imposition of secondary sanctions, and therefore such blocked persons' entries on the SDN List will include the descriptive prefix text “Secondary sanctions risk:” followed by information about the applicable secondary sanctions authority. The SDN List is accessible through the following page on OFAC's website: www.treas.gov/sdn. Additional information pertaining to the SDN List can be found in appendix A to this chapter. See § 578.411 concerning entities that may not be listed on the SDN List but whose property and interests in property are nevertheless blocked pursuant to this section.

Note 2 to § 578.201.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) 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. Except as described in note 3 to this section, the names of persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pending investigation pursuant to this section are published in the Federal Register and incorporated into the SDN List using the following identifiers: for amended E.O. 13694: “[BPI-CYBER2]”; for CAATSA: “[BPI-CAATSA-RUSSIA]”; and for any further Executive orders issued pursuant to the national emergency declared in E.O. 13694: “[BPI-CYBER-E.O.[E.O. number pursuant to which the person's property and interests in property are blocked pending investigation]].”

Note 3 to § 578.201:

In certain cases, OFAC may issue an order to: identify as blocked specific property or interests in property of a person designated or otherwise blocked pursuant to this section; block specific property or interests in property of a person pending investigation; or block or impose other prohibitions with respect to specific property or interests in property less than full blocking sanctions. Notice of such orders will be provided: by publication in the Federal Register; in writing to persons OFAC may assess to have an interest in the property; or by issuing an order or directive in writing to financial institutions or other transaction intermediaries, and requiring the recipient of the order or directive to promptly disclose it to affected persons with whom the recipient maintains direct commercial relationships. Inquiries regarding any such order should be directed to OFAC's Compliance Division at 202-622-2490 or https://ofac.treasury.gov/contact-ofac.

Note 4 to § 578.201:

Subpart E of part 501 of this chapter describes the procedures to be followed for the release of property and interests in property blocked pursuant to this section, including funds blocked due to mistaken identity or typographical or similar errors, and for administrative reconsideration of one's status as a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.

[87 FR 54376, Sept. 6, 2022, as amended at 89 FR 75964, Sept. 17, 2024]
authority: 3 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 321(b); 50 U.S.C. 1601-1651,1701; Pub. L. 101-410, 104 Stat. 890, as amended (28 U.S.C. 2461 note); Pub. L. 115-44, 131 Stat. 886 (codified in scattered sections of 22 U.S.C.); E.O. 13694, 80 FR 18077, 3 CFR 2015 Comp., p. 297; E.O. 13757, 82 FR 1, 3 CFR 2016 Comp., p. 659
source: 87 FR 54376, Sept. 6, 2022, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 31 CFR 578.201