Alerts

U.S. Treasury Adds Bank Sepah To OFAC's SDN List As A Supporter Of WMD Proliferation

January 31, 2007

On January 9, 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") added Bank Sepah, the fifth-largest Iranian state-owned bank; all its branches worldwide; Bank Sepah International plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary located in London; and Ahmad Derakshandeh, Bank Sepah's chairman and director (collectively, "Bank Sepah"), to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (the "SDN List") and designated them as supporters of weapons of mass destruction ("WMD") proliferation. This designation bans all U.S. persons from doing business with Bank Sepah, including transactions involving Iranian banks that are usually authorized by general license, such as U-turn payments. Additionally, any of Bank Sepah's assets that are, or that hereafter come under, U.S. jurisdiction are blocked by operation of law. OFAC took this action pursuant to Executive Order 13382 which was issued in June 2005 to freeze the financial assets of proliferators of WMD, their agents and supporters.