[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 40 (Tuesday, February 29, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10707-10708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4672]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Foreign Assets Control

31 CFR Part 501


Reporting and Procedures Regulations: Mandatory License 
Application Form for Unblocking Funds Transfers

AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule; amendments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is amending 
the Reporting and Procedures Regulations to require that license 
applicants seeking to unblock funds transfers under the various 
economic sanctions programs administered by OFAC submit their 
application in a standardized format.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 29, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis P. Wood, Chief, Compliance 
Programs Division (tel.: 202/622-2490); or William B. Hoffman, Chief 
Counsel (tel.: 202/622-2410), Office of Foreign Assets Control, 
Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic and Facsimile Availability

    This document is available as an electronic file on The Federal 
Bulletin Board the day of publication in the Federal Register. By 
modem, dial 202/512-1387 and type ``/GO FAC,'' or call 202/512-1530 for 
disk or paper copies. This file is available for downloading without 
charge in ASCII and Adobe Acrobat readable (*.PDF) formats. 
For Internet access, the address for use with the World Wide Web (Home 
Page), Telnet, or FTP protocol is: fedbbs.access.gpo.gov. This document 
and additional information concerning the programs of the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control are also available for downloading from the 
Office's Internet Home Page: http://www.treas.gov/ofac, or in fax form 
through the Office's 24-hour fax-on-demand service: call 202/622-0077 
using a fax machine, fax modem, or (within the United States) a touch-
tone telephone.

Background

    The Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is amending the 
Reporting and Procedures Regulations, 31 CFR part 501 (the 
``Regulations''), to require that license applications to unblock funds 
transfers be submitted in a standardized format. Section 501.801 of the 
Regulations provides procedures for requesting specific licenses, 
including application procedures under those statements of licensing 
policy contained in subpart E of the individual parts in chapter V, 
which note the availability of specific licenses for particular 
categories of transactions but do not establish requirements for the 
submission of specific information.
    Assets blocked pursuant to the various economic sanctions programs 
administered by OFAC may be released through a specific license issued 
by OFAC in response to applications submitted by persons having an 
interest in the blocked funds. OFAC has for many years required certain 
information to be included in each license application. Until December 
1998, applicants applied for a license by sending a letter with 
supporting documentation to OFAC. However, this non-standardized format 
was not conducive to the efficient processing of applications because 
many applications were incomplete, difficult to interpret and at times 
not submitted in English as required.
    Accordingly, OFAC developed a form for OFAC license applications 
(TD-F 90-22.54) (OMB #1505-0170) in December 1998, which provided a 
voluntary standardized method for all applicants seeking the release of 
blocked funds transfers. This form was made available in electronic 
format on OFAC's website and by fax from OFAC's fax-on-demand service. 
Its use has greatly facilitated applicants' submission and OFAC's 
processing of applications, and obviated the need for applicants to 
write lengthy letter applications. This has resulted in a reduction of 
the overall burden of the application process.
    OFAC is amending Sec. 501.801 of the Regulations to make this form 
mandatory for applicants seeking the unblocking of funds transfers, and 
to require that the filing include the original signed application and 
two duplicate submissions of the entire application package. A new 
feature of the mandatory form is that the actual application form will 
generally become the license or license denial once stamped and signed 
by the appropriate OFAC official.
    Section 501.801 of the Regulations is also being amended to require 
that all applications must be filed by mail or courier. Applications 
will no longer be accepted by fax or electronically, unless otherwise 
authorized. However, the application form for the unblocking of funds 
transfers will continue to be available on OFAC's website, where it may 
be completed but not signed electronically, and on OFAC's fax-on-demand 
service.
    Since this final rule involves a foreign affairs function, 
Executive Order 12886 and the provisions of the Administrative 
Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) requiring notice of proposed rulemaking, 
opportunity for public participation, and delay in effective date are 
inapplicable. Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required for 
this rule, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612) does not 
apply.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule is being issued without prior notice and public comment 
procedure pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553). 
Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), the 
collection of information contained in this rule has been submitted to 
and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB''), and has 
been assigned control number 1505-0170. An agency may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless it displays a valid control number assigned by OMB.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 501

    Administrative practice and procedure, Banks, banking, Blocking of 
assets, Foreign trade, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 31 CFR part 501 is 
amended as set forth below:

PART 501--REPORTING AND PROCEDURES REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 501 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 22 U.S.C. 287c; 31 U.S.C. 321(b); 50 U.S.C. 1701-
1706; 50 U.S.C. App. 1-44.

Subpart D--Procedures

    2. Paragraph (b)(2) of Sec. 501.801 is revised as follows:

[[Page 10708]]

Sec. 501.801  Licensing.

* * * * *
    (b) Specific licenses-- * * *
    (2) Applications for specific licenses. Original signed 
applications for specific licenses to engage in any transactions 
prohibited by or pursuant to this chapter or sanctions programs that 
have been delegated to the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets 
Control for implementation and administration must be filed by mail or 
courier. Applications will not be accepted by fax or electronically, 
unless otherwise authorized. Applications may be submitted in letter 
form with the exception of license applications for the unblocking of 
funds transfers. Applications for the unblocking of funds transfers 
must be submitted using TD-F 90-22.54, ``Application for the Release of 
Blocked Funds,'' accompanied by two complete copies of the entire 
submission. The form, which requires information regarding the date of 
the blocking, the financial institutions involved in the transfer, and 
the beneficiary and amount of the transfer, may be obtained from the 
OFAC Internet Home Page: http://www.treas.gov/ofac, the OFAC fax-on-
demand service: 202/622-0077, or the Compliance Programs Division, 
Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of the Treasury, 
Washington, DC 20220. Any person having an interest in a transaction or 
proposed transaction may file an application for a license authorizing 
such transaction.
* * * * *

    Dated: January 19, 2000.
R. Richard Newcomb,
Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
    Approved: January 24, 2000.
Elisabeth A. Bresee,
Assistant Secretary (Enforcement), Department of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 00-4672 Filed 2-24-00; 9:49 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-25-P