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31 CFR § 515.201 - Transactions involving designated foreign countries or their nationals; effective date.

Date issued: Aug. 25 1997

Last substantive commentary amendment:
Nov. 24 2023

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§515.201 Transactions involving designated foreign countries or their nationals; effective date.
(a) All of the following transactions are prohibited, except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury (or any person, agency, or instrumentality designated by him) by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, licenses, or otherwise, if either such transactions are by, or on behalf of, or pursuant to the direction of a foreign country designated under this part, or any national thereof, or such transactions involve property in which a foreign country designated under this part, or any national thereof, has at any time on or since the effective date of this section had any interest of any nature whatsoever, direct or indirect:
(1) All transfers of credit and all payments between, by, through, or to any banking institution or banking institutions wheresoever located, with respect to any property subject to the jurisdiction of the United...

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TURBOFAC Commentary (1408 words)

Notes:

This provision is unique among all active sanctions provisions. All other embargo programs have a provision that blocks all property and interests in property of specifically identified SDNs, along with a variety of other provisions specifically prohibiting imports and exports of goods and services, facilitation, and other discrete actions.

515.201, on the other hand, essentially serves as the fundamental basis for almost the entirety of the Cuban embargo. Most significantly, the provision prohibits all "transactions" that "involve property in which [Cuba] or any national thereof, has at any time on or since [July 8, 1963] had any interest of any nature whatsoever, direct or indirect."

On this face, this provision could theoretically be read to encompass virtually anything that is even tangentially related to Cuba. In practice, it is read nearly that broadly. Given that virtually the entirety...