Regulations last checked for updates: Nov 25, 2024

Title 31 - Money and Finance: Treasury last revised: Nov 18, 2024
§ 597.701 - Penalties.

(a) Attention is directed to 18 U.S.C. 2339B(a)(1), as added by Public Law 104-132, 110 Stat. 1250-1253, section 303, which provides that whoever, within the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

(b)(1) Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2339B(b), except as authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, any financial institution that knowingly fails to retain possession of or maintain control over funds in which a foreign terrorist organization or its agent has an interest, or to report the existence of such funds in accordance with these regulations, shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount that is the greater of the amount set forth in 18 U.S.C. 2339B(b) per violation, or twice the amount of which the financial institution was required to retain possession or control.

(2) The civil penalties provided in 18 U.S.C. 2339B(b) are subject to adjustment pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-410, as amended, 28 U.S.C. 2461 note).

(3) The applicable maximum civil penalty per violation is $97,178 or twice the amount of which a financial institution was required to retain possession or control.

(c) Attention is directed to 18 U.S.C. 1001,which,in,legislative,or,knowingly,conceals,scheme,or,or,fictitious,or,fictitious,shall,United,or,or.

(d) Conduct covered by this part may also be subject to relevant provisions of other applicable laws.

[62 FR 52495, Oct. 8, 1997, as amended at 68 FR 61361, Oct. 28, 2003; 81 FR 43077, July 1, 2016; 82 FR 10439, Feb. 10, 2017; 83 FR 11880, Mar. 19, 2018; 84 FR 27719, June 14, 2019; 85 FR 19888, Apr. 9, 2020; 86 FR 14539, Mar. 17, 2021; 87 FR 7373, Feb. 9, 2022; 88 FR 2234, Jan. 13, 2023; 89 FR 2144, Jan. 12, 2024]
§ 597.702 - Prepenalty notice.

(a) When required. If the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control has reasonable cause to believe that there has occurred a violation of any provision of this part or a violation of the provisions of any license, ruling, regulation, order, direction or instruction issued by or pursuant to the direction or authorization of the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to this part, and the Director, acting in coordination with the Attorney General, determines that civil penalty proceedings are warranted, the Director shall issue to the person concerned a notice of intent to impose a monetary penalty. The prepenalty notice shall be issued whether or not another agency has taken any action with respect to this matter.

(b) Contents—(1) Facts of violation. The prepenalty notice shall describe the violation, specify the laws and regulations allegedly violated, and state the amount of the proposed monetary penalty.

(2) Right to respond. The prepenalty notice also shall inform the respondent of respondent's right to respond within 30 days of mailing of the notice as to why a monetary penalty should not be imposed, or, if imposed, why it should be in a lesser amount than proposed.

§ 597.703 - Response to prepenalty notice.

(a) Time within which to respond. The respondent shall have 30 days from the date of mailing of the prepenalty notice to respond in writing to the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

(b) Form and contents of written response. The written response need not be in any particular form, but shall contain information sufficient to indicate that it is in response to the prepenalty notice. It should respond to the allegations in the prepenalty notice and set forth the reasons why the respondent believes the penalty should not be imposed or, if imposed, why it should be in a lesser amount than proposed.

(c) Informal settlement. In addition or as an alternative to a written response to a prepenalty notice pursuant to this section, the respondent or respondent's representative may contact the Office of Foreign Assets Control as advised in the prepenalty notice to propose the settlement of allegations contained in the prepenalty notice and related matters. In the event of settlement at the prepenalty stage, the prepenalty notice will be withdrawn, the respondent is not required to take a written position on allegations contained in the prepenalty notice, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control will make no final determination as to whether a violation occurred. The amount accepted in settlement of allegations in a prepenalty notice may vary from the civil penalty that might finally be imposed in the event of a formal determination of violation. In the event no settlement is reached, the 30-day period specified in paragraph (a) of this section for written response to the prepenalty notice remains in effect unless additional time is granted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

§ 597.704 - Penalty notice.

(a) No violation. If, after considering any written response to the prepenalty notice and any relevant facts, the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control determines that there was no violation by the respondent, the Director promptly shall notify the respondent in writing of that determination and that no monetary penalty will be imposed.

(b) Violation. (1) If, after considering any written response to the prepenalty notice and any relevant facts, the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control determines that there was a violation by the respondent, the Director promptly shall issue a written notice of the imposition of the monetary penalty on the respondent. The issuance of a written notice of the imposition of a monetary penalty shall constitute final agency action.

(2) The penalty notice shall inform the respondent that payment of the assessed penalty must be made within 30 days of the mailing of the penalty notice.

(3) The penalty notice shall inform the respondent of the requirement to furnish respondent's taxpayer identification number pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 7701 and that the Department intends to use such number for the purposes of collecting and reporting on any delinquent penalty amount in the event of a failure to pay the penalty imposed.

§ 597.705 - Administrative collection; referral to United States Department of Justice.

In the event that the respondent does not pay the penalty imposed pursuant to this part or make payment arrangements acceptable to the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control within 30 days of the mailing of the written notice of the imposition of the penalty, the matter may be referred for administrative collection measures by the Department of the Treasury or to the United States Department of Justice for appropriate action to recover the penalty in a civil suit in a Federal district court.

authority: 8 U.S.C. 1189; 18 U.S.C. 2339B; 31 U.S.C. 321(b); Pub. L. 101-410, 104 Stat. 890, as amended (28 U.S.C. 2461 note)
source: 62 FR 52495, Oct. 8, 1997, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 31 CFR 597.705