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Case No. SU-2798
[ ], Esq.
Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.
7600 Boston Boulevard, Suite 100
Springfield, VA 22153
Dear Ms. [ ]:
This responds to your August 22, 2008 letter to the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("'OFAC") on behalf of Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. ("MBN"), a U.S. person. According to your letter, MBN provides news and information to Arabic-speaking populations in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe and receives 100% of its funding from grants administered by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. MBN is requesting a license to transfer funds to pay free-lance reporters and writers to provide content for new programming for Sudan and, in particular, for Darfur.
The Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 538 (the "SSR") prohibit the exportation or reexportation, directly...
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1) This guidance letter adds to the corpus of notable “official business”-related guidance letters described in General Note on Exemptions and General Licenses for the “Official Business” of the U.S. Government (and/or United Nations) and Employees, Contractors, or Grantees Thereof. Here, we have a “corporation” (MBN), which OFAC appears to regard as not qualifying as the “United States Government” notwithstanding that it “receives 100% of its funding from grants administered by the Broadcasting Board of Governors” (the BBG was a U.S. government agency. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Agency_for_Global_Media).
However, the fact that MBN “receives 100% of its funding from grants administered by” a government agency appears to lead OFAC to conclude that, on a per se basis, i.e. without the need to examine the connection between the grant and activities at issue, the otherwise prohibited activities of MBN would qualify...