664. Can U.S. financial institutions process transactions and maintain correspondent accounts in connection with activities authorized under Venezuela General Licenses 4A, 15, 16, 17, and 18?
U.S. financial institutions and U.S. registered money transmitters are authorized to process transactions involving Banco de Venezuela, S.A. Banco Universal (Banco de Venezuela) or Banco Bicentenario del Pueblo, de la Clase Obrera, Mujer y Comunas, Banco Universal C.A. (Banco Bicentenario del Pueblo) for purposes of Venezuela General Licenses 4A, 15, 16, and 17, Banco Prodem S.A. for purposes of General License 17, and Integracion Administradora de Fondos de Ahorro Previsional, S.A. for purposes of General License 18, in each case so long as the underlying transaction or activity is authorized under the relevant general license.
U.S. financial institutions that maintain correspondent accounts for Banco de Venezuela or Banco Bicentenario del Pueblo for purposes of General Licenses 4A, 15, 16, and 17,...
Note: this FAQ and comments thereto were posted/written prior to the blocking of the Government of Venezuela pursuant to EO 13884. Neither the FAQ nor the comment have been updated in light of that development.
1) Maintaining/operating a correspondent account for an SDN bank is presumably as much a "provision of a service" to the SDN as maintaining/operating an ordinary retail account is to an individual SDN.
Given that there is nothing in any of the GLs referred to pertaining to correspondent accounts, it appears as though OFAC interprets the maintenance of a correspondent account with a given blocked bank as “ordinarily incident” to the specifically circumscribed range of transactions permissible in relation to that bank. Note however that this interpretation of the scope of "ordinarily incident" is not an interpretation of the...