Block Iranian Access to U.S. Banks Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6243 To prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from authorizing financial services by United States financial institutions to the Government of Iran, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 12, 2020 Mr. HUIZENGA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from authorizing financial services by United States financial institutions to the Government of Iran, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Block Iranian Access 4 to U.S. Banks Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds the following: 7 (1) In 2019, the Department of the Treasury 8 concluded that Iran is a jurisdiction of primary 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Apr 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6243.IH H6243 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6243 IH money laundering concern and imposed restrictions 1 on correspondent accounts in the United States in- 2 volving Iranian financial institutions. 3 (2) In June 2019, the Financial Action Task 4 Force (‘‘FATF’’) urged all jurisdictions to require 5 increased supervisory examination for branches and 6 subsidiaries of financial institutions based in Iran. 7 The FATF later called upon its members to intro- 8 duce enhanced relevant reporting mechanisms or 9 systematic reporting of financial transactions, and 10 require increased external audit requirements, for fi- 11 nancial groups with respect to any of their branches 12 and subsidiaries located in Iran. 13 (3) According to the State Department’s 14 ‘‘Country Reports on Terrorism’’ in 2018, ‘‘Iran is 15 the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.’’ 16 The regime has spent nearly one billion dollars per 17 year to support terrorist groups that serve as its 18 proxies and expand its malign influence across the 19 globe. Tehran has funded international terrorist 20 groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, and Palestinian 21 Islamic Jihad. 22 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 23 It is the sense of the Congress that the deposits of 24 United States citizens held in United States financial in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6243.IH H6243 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6243 IH stitutions should not be used to finance the Government 1 of Iran. 2 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON IRANIAN ACCESS TO UNITED 3 STATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 4 (a) PROHIBITIONS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas- 6 ury may not issue a license authorizing a United 7 States financial institution to provide financial serv- 8 ices, directly or indirectly, to the Government of 9 Iran. 10 (2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 11 (A) UNITED STATES FINANCIAL INSTITU- 12 TION.—The term ‘‘United States financial insti- 13 tution’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘U.S. 14 financial institution’’ under section 561.309 of 15 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations. 16 (B) GOVERNMENT OF IRAN.—The term 17 ‘‘Government of Iran’’ has the meaning given 18 that term under section 560.304 of title 31, 19 Code of Federal Regulations. 20 (b) WAIVER.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive 22 the requirements of subsection (a) with respect to a 23 license authorizing financial services after issuing a 24 report reporting to the Committee on Financial 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6243.IH H6243 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6243 IH Services of the House of Representatives and the 1 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 2 of the Senate stating that— 3 (A) the financial services are required sole- 4 ly for the provision of medicines, medical equip- 5 ment, agricultural commodities, or humani- 6 tarian assistance benefitting the people of Iran; 7 or 8 (B) the financial services are not provided 9 in connection with a foreign person that en- 10 gages in sanctionable activities. 11 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after a 12 report is submitted by the President under para- 13 graph (1) with respect to a license, the Secretary of 14 the Treasury shall transmit a copy of the license 15 issued pursuant to the waiver to the Committee on 16 Financial Services of the House of Representatives 17 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 18 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 19 (c) SUNSET.—The provisions of this Act shall cease 20 to have any force or effect on the earlier of— 21 (1) the date that is 5 years after the date of en- 22 actment of this Act; or 23 (2) the date that is 30 days after the Secretary 24 of the Treasury reports in writing to the Committee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6243.IH H6243 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6243 IH on Financial Services of the House of Representa- 1 tives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 2 Urban Affairs of the Senate, and makes such report 3 publicly available, that–— 4 (A) Iran is not a jurisdiction of primary 5 money laundering concern; 6 (B) Iran has ceased providing support for 7 acts of international terrorism; or 8 (C) terminating the provisions of this Act 9 is necessary to permit the United States to 10 comply with a treaty ratified by the United 11 States. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6243.IH H6243 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS