Can organizations engage in transactions with the Central Bank of Yemen in Sana’a or other Yemeni banks that are or may appear to be controlled by Ansarallah?
Transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to authorized activity within the terms of the general licenses described above, such as the processing of funds transfers, are permissible. In addition, Yemen is not subject to broad, jurisdiction-based sanctions. As such, financial transfers to or through Yemeni financial institutions that do not involve Ansarallah or other blocked individuals or entities are not prohibited.
Notes:
1) Read in conjunction with Guidance for the Provision of Humanitarian-Related Assistance and Critical Commodities to the Yemeni People - Q # 3 (Ansarallah member leading an agency or governing institution of Yemen does not mean the entity is blocked).
Here, OFAC appears to answer a question it has long sought to avoid answering directly in either the Afghanistan or Yemen contexts, i.e. does a blocked SDGT with de facto control over an area have an “interest” in transactions of entities it controls (but doesn’t own). Here, OFAC raises the specific example of “the Central Bank of Yemen in Sana’a or other Yemeni banks that are or may appear to be controlled by Ansarallah”. In our reading, OFAC’s statement that “financial transfers to or through Yemeni financial institutions...