Upon a determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that a foreign financial institution knowingly engages in one or more of the activities described in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(4) of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury may, as set forth in paragraph (b) of this section, impose one or more strict conditions on the opening or maintaining of a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for that foreign financial institution, or, as set forth in paragraph (c) of this section, prohibit a U.S. financial institution from opening or maintaining a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for that foreign financial institution.

1. (a) A foreign financial institution engages in an activity described in this paragraph if, in any location or currency, the foreign financial institution, on or after December 18, 2015, knowingly:

   1. (1) Facilitates a significant transaction or transactions for Hizballah;
   2. (2) Facilitates a significant transaction or transactions of a person identified on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), the property and interests in property of which are blocked pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA) for acting on behalf of or at the direction of, or being owned or controlled by, Hizballah;
   3. (3) Engages in money laundering to carry out an activity described in paragraphs (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this section; or
   4. (4) Facilitates a significant transaction or transactions or provides significant financial services to carry out an activity described in paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), or (a)(3) of this section.

2. (b) The Secretary of the Treasury may impose one or more strict conditions on the opening or maintaining by a U.S. financial institution of a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for a foreign financial institution that the Secretary finds engages in one or more of the activities described in paragraph (a) of this section. Except as otherwise authorized pursuant to this part, a U.S. financial institution shall not open or maintain a correspondent account or payable-through account in the United States in a manner that is inconsistent with any strict condition imposed and in effect pursuant to this paragraph. Such conditions may include the following:

   1. (1) Prohibiting or restricting any provision of trade finance through the correspondent account or payable-through account of the foreign financial institution;
   2. (2) Restricting the transactions that may be processed through the correspondent account or payable-through account of the foreign financial institution to certain types of transactions, such as personal remittances;
   3. (3) Placing monetary limits on, or limiting the volume of, the transactions that may be processed through the correspondent account or payable-through account of the foreign financial institution;
   4. (4) Requiring pre-approval from the U.S. financial institution for all transactions processed through the correspondent account or payable-through account of the foreign financial institution; or
   5. (5) Prohibiting or restricting the processing of foreign exchange transactions through the correspondent account or payable-through account of the foreign financial institution.
3. (c) If the Secretary of the Treasury does not impose one or more strict conditions, pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, on the opening or maintaining by a U.S. financial institution of a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for a foreign financial institution that the Secretary determines engages in one or more of the activities described in paragraph (a) of this section, the Secretary may prohibit the opening or maintaining by a U.S. financial institution of a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for that foreign financial institution. Except as otherwise authorized pursuant to this part, a U.S. financial institution shall not open or maintain a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for a foreign financial institution for which the opening or maintaining of such an account is prohibited pursuant to this paragraph.

Note to paragraph (a)(2): The SDN List is accessible through the following page on OFAC's Web site: www.treasury.gov/sdn. Additional information pertaining to the SDN List can be found in appendix A to this chapter. Persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to IEEPA for acting on behalf of or at the direction of or being owned or controlled by Hizballah are identified by a special reference to Hizballah at the end of their entries on the SDN List, in addition to the reference to the regulatory part of this chapter pursuant to which their property and interests in property are blocked. For example, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 594, and identified on the SDN List, will have the program tag “[SDGT]” and descriptive text [“Subject to secondary sanctions pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations”].

Note to paragraph (b): The name of the foreign financial institution, together with the actual strict condition(s) to be imposed, will be added to the List of Foreign Financial Institutions Subject to Correspondent Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions (CAPTA List) on the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Web site (www.treasury.gov/ofac), and published in the Federal Register.

Note to paragraph (c): The names of foreign financial institutions for which the opening or maintaining of a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States is prohibited will be listed on the CAPTA List on OFAC's Web site (www.treasury.gov/ofac), and published in the Federal Register.

[81 FR 22186, Apr. 15, 2016, as amended at 84 FR 9457, Mar. 15, 2019]