593. If a blocked person holds an equity interest in a foreign entity, and the foreign entity is not itself a blocked person pursuant to OFAC’s fifty percent rule, can the foreign entity be sanctioned under section 10 of SSIDES, as amended by section 228 of CAATSA, and section 5 of UFSA, as amended by section 226 of CAATSA, for paying dividends to the blocked person?

Whether paying dividends to a blocked person who holds an equity interest in the foreign company of less than fifty percent, individually or in the aggregate, would result in OFAC imposing sanctions under these authorities on the payer of the dividends depends on whether OFAC determines that such a transaction is “significant.” For information on how OFAC determines whether a transaction is significant, see FAQs 542, 545, 579, and 589. Paying dividends into a blocked account or in a manner that does not provide economic benefit, directly or indirectly, to the blocked person, such as an escrow account, will not be considered “significant” for the purposes of a sanctions determination under section 10 of SSIDES, as amended by CAATSA, or section 5 of UFSA, as amended by CAATSA.