§ 510.210 Prohibitions or strict conditions with respect to correspondent or payable-through accounts or blocking of certain foreign financial institutions identified by the Secretary of the Treasury.

(a) Prohibited activities. A U.S. financial institution shall not:

(1) 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 section; or

(2) Maintain a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States in a manner that is inconsistent with any strict condition imposed and in effect pursuant to this section.

(b) Sanctionable activity by foreign financial institutions prohibited by Executive Order 13810. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may determine that a foreign financial institution has, on or after September 21, 2017, knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant transaction:

(1) On behalf of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13551, Executive Order 13687, Executive Order 13722, or Executive Order 13810, or on behalf of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13382 in connection with North Korea-related activities; or

(2) In connection with trade with North Korea.

(c) Sanctionable activity by foreign financial institutions prohibited by NKSPEA, as amended. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may determine that a foreign financial institution has, on or after April 18, 2020, knowingly provided significant financial services to any person designated for the imposition of sanctions with respect to North Korea described in § 510.201(a)(3)(vii) through (ix) and under an applicable Executive order (as defined in NKSPEA, as amended) or an applicable United Nations Security Council resolution (as defined in NKSPEA, as amended).

(d) Imposition of sanctions on foreign financial institutions. Upon determining that a foreign financial institution has engaged in sanctionable activity described in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may:

(1) 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 the foreign financial institution; or

(2) Impose one or more strict conditions on the maintaining by a U.S. financial institution of a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for the foreign financial institution. Such conditions may include the following:

(i) Prohibiting or restricting any provision of trade finance through the correspondent account or payable-through account of the foreign financial institution;

(ii) 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;

(iii) 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;

(iv) 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

(v) Prohibiting or restricting the processing of foreign exchange transactions through the correspondent account or payable-through account of the foreign financial institution.

(e) Applicability of prohibitions. The prohibitions in this section apply except to the extent provided by regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this part, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date.

[83 FR 9187, Mar. 5, 2018, as amended at 84 FR 30870, June 28, 2019; 85 FR 20161, Apr. 10, 2020]