Paragraph (a) of General License 9B (this content is no longer available) requires that any divestment or transfer by U.S. persons of debt of, or equity in, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) (or any entity in which PdVSA owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest), that was issued prior to August 25, 2017, be to a non-U.S. person, absent authorization from OFAC. Similarly, paragraph (a) of General License 3C (this content is no longer available) requires that any divestment or transfer by U.S. persons of holdings in the bonds listed in the Annex to General License 3C (GL 3C Bonds) be to a non U.S. person, absent authorization from OFAC. General Licenses 3C and 9B also authorize U.S. persons to facilitate the transfer or divestment of such debt (and, in the case of General License 9B, debt and equity), so long as the divestment or transfer of any holdings in such debt or equity by a U.S. person is to a non-U.S. person, absent authorization from OFAC. Financial institutions or registered broker-dealers in securities may rely upon the information ordinarily available to them for purposes of conducting the activities authorized under General Licenses 3C and 9B.
Consistent with OFAC FAQ 116, if a U.S. broker or financial institution involved in a transfer or divestment of such debt (or, in the case of General License 9B, debt or equity) pursuant to paragraph (a) in either General License 3C and 9B has information in its possession leading it to know or have reason to know that the buyer is a U.S. person, then the U.S. broker or financial institution will be held responsible if it does not take appropriate steps to ensure that the trade is not consummated, absent authorization from OFAC. OFAC expects U.S. persons to conduct due diligence on their own direct customers, and OFAC will consider the totality of the circumstances surrounding the processing of the transaction to determine what, if any, enforcement action to take.