U.S. Department of the Treasury's Press Release - 27th January 2012

Recent Action Notice for Publication of ITSR (Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations) Amendment

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control published a final rule in the Federal Register on December 26, 2012, amending the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 560 (the "ITSR"), to implement section 218 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 ("TRA") and sections of Executive Order 13622 of July 30, 2012, and Executive Order 13628 of October 9, 2012.

This final rule can be found at 77 Fed. Reg. 75845 (December 26, 2012). The ITSR amendments prohibit certain transactions by entities owned or controlled by a United States person and established or maintained outside the United States ("foreign subsidiaries").

They also provide for civil penalties to be imposed on a United States person if its foreign subsidiary violates this new prohibition, unless the United States person divests or terminates its business with the subsidiary by February 6, 2013, such that the U.S. person no longer owns or controls the subsidiary, as defined in the regulations.

In addition, the final rule adds two general licenses to the ITSR and amends several existing licenses to address activities by foreign subsidiaries. Finally, the amendments expand the categories of persons whose property and interests in property are blocked to include any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to have materially assisted or provided other support for certain Government of Iran-related entities or certain activities by the Government of Iran.