Case No. IA-2013-302020-1
Kenneth L. Bachman, Esq.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
2000 Pennsylvania A venue, NW
Washington, DC 20006-1801
Dear Mr. Bachman:
This responds to your letters dated April 25, 2013, and September 6, 2013 (the "Application"), on behalf of BNP Paribas S.A. ("BNPP"), to the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC"), requesting guidance regarding the permissibility of certain U.S. dollar ("USD") and USD denominated securities clearing transactions ( collectively, the "USD Clearing Transactions") to effect the close-out of an account (the "Account") held at the Singapore branch of BNPP Wealth Management "BNPP Singapore") in the name of the [
]. According to the Application, [ ] has requested a close-out of the Account and the transfer of its USD cash balances and any resulting USD proceeds to [ ] account at...
1) Part of the context of the request for guidance is the applicant receiving, up to that point and as of 1/2021, the largest sanctions related fine in history. See Civil Enforcement Information - BNP Paribas SA (2014).
2) The potential jurisdictional basis for a violation involving the proposed USD denominated securities clearing transaction would be the same as ordinary payment processing. A non-U.S. person not otherwise subject to the ITSR would, in this case, potentially "cause" a U.S. person bank or custodian of securities to, e.g., export of a financial service to Iran (560.204) or otherwise deal in blocked property (560.211) (see e.g. Civil Enforcement Information - UBS AG (2015), Clearstream Banking S.A (2014)).
3) The likely driver of the need to seek comfort was uncertainty as to...