§8909 Mandatory Imposition of Sanctions with Respect to Certain Transactions with Persons That Evade Sanctions Imposed with Respect to the Russian Federation

Summary

The President must impose financial sanctions on a foreign person if the President finds that, knowingly on or after August 2, 2017, the person either broke or tried to break rules or orders tied to listed U.S. actions on Russia and Ukraine, or helped carry out a major transaction (including deceitful or “structured” deals) for someone already sanctioned for dealings with the Russian Federation or for that person’s close family. The sanctions use the President’s emergency economic powers to block and prohibit all transactions and freeze all property and property interests of the targeted person if the property is in the United States, comes into the United States, or is held or controlled by a U.S. person. Authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act may be used to enforce the sanctions, and violations can bring the penalties that law provides. The President can delay applying these sanctions only by sending Congress a written justification saying the delay is vital to national security or will help enforce the law, and by certifying specific Russian steps when the sanctions relate to certain executive orders (for some orders, a certification that Russia is following the Minsk agreements signed February 11, 2015, and the Minsk Protocol of September 5, 2014; for others, a certification that Russia has made major efforts to cut back on cyber intrusions). The President may end sanctions after notifying Congress, showing the person has stopped the conduct or is taking verifiable steps to stop, and getting reliable assurances the person will not do it again. Definitions: “covered Executive order” = the six listed orders (EO 13660, 13661, 13662, 13685, 13694, 13757) relating to Ukraine, Crimea, or malicious cyber activity; “foreign person” = as defined in 31 C.F.R. 595.304 (as of August 2, 2017); “structured” = the meaning in 31 C.F.R. 1010.100(xx).