Council Regulation (EU) No 267/2012Show full title

CHAPTER V RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERS OF FUNDS AND ON FINANCIAL SERVICES

Article 30

1. Transfers of funds to and from an Iranian person, entity or body shall be processed as follows:

(a) transfers due on transactions regarding foodstuffs, healthcare, medical equipment, or for humanitarian purposes shall be carried out without any prior authorisation. The transfer shall be notified in advance in writing to the competent authorities if above EUR 10 000 or equivalent;

(b) any other transfer below EUR 40 000 shall be carried out without any prior authorisation. The transfer shall be notified in advance in writing to the competent authorities if above EUR 10 000 or equivalent;

(c) any other transfer of or above EUR 40 000 or equivalent shall require a prior authorisation of the competent authorities.

2. Paragraph 1 shall apply regardless of whether the transfer of funds is executed in a single operation or in several operations which appear to be linked. For the purpose of this Article, "operations which appear to be linked" includes:

(i)

a series of consecutive transfers from or to the same Iranian person, entity or body which are made in connection with a single obligation to a transfer of funds, where each individual transfer falls below the threshold set out in paragraph 1 but which, in the aggregate, meet the criteria for notification or authorisation; or

(ii)

a chain of transfers involving different payment service providers or natural or legal persons which effects a single obligation to make a transfer of funds.

3. Notifications and requests for authorisation relating to the transfer of funds shall be processed as follows:

(a) In the case of electronic transfers of funds processed by credit or financial institutions, notifications and requests for authorisation relating to the transfer of funds shall be processed as follows:

(i)

Notifications and requests for authorisation relating to the transfer of funds to an Iranian person, entity or body which is located outside the Union, shall be addressed by or on behalf of the payment service provider of the payer to the competent authorities of the Member State where the initial order to execute the transfer is given.

(ii)

Notifications and requests for authorisation relating to the transfer of funds from an Iranian person, entity or body which is located outside the Union, shall be addressed by or on behalf of the payment service provider of the payee to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the payee is resident or the payment service provider is established.

(iii)

If the payment service provider of the payer or of the payee does not fall under the scope of Article 49, notifications and requests for authorisation shall be addressed, in the case of a transfer to an Iranian person, entity or body, by the payer, and in the case of a transfer from an Iranian person, entity or body by the payee to the competent authorities of the Member State in which, respectively, the payer or payee is resident.

(iv)

Notifications and requests for authorisation relating to the transfer of funds to an Iranian person, entity or body which is located within the Union, shall be addressed by or on behalf of the payment service provider of the payee to the competent authorities of the Member States in which the payee is resident or the payment service provider is established.

(v)

Notifications and requests for authorisation relating to the transfer of funds from an Iranian person, entity or body which is located within the Union, shall be addressed by or on behalf of the payment service provider of the payer to the competent authorities of the Member States where the initial order to execute the transfer is given.

(vi)

In relation to a transfer of funds to or from an Iranian person, entity or body where none of the payer, payee or their respective payment service providers fall under the scope of Article 49 but a payment service provider which does fall under the scope of that Article acts as an intermediary, then that payment service provider must comply with the obligation to notify or seek authorisation, as applicable, if it knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that the transfer is to or from an Iranian person, entity or body. Where there is more than one payment service provider acting as an intermediary, only the first payment service provider to process the transfer is required to comply with the obligation to notify or seek authorisation, as applicable. Any notification or request for authorisation must be addressed to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the payment service provider is established.

(vii)

Where there is more than one payment service provider involved in a series of linked transfers of funds, transfers within the Union shall include a reference to the authorisation granted under this Article.

(b) In the case of transfers of funds which are effected by non-electronic means, notifications and requests for authorisation relating to the transfer of funds shall be processed as follows:

(i)

Notifications and requests for authorisation relating to transfers to an Iranian person, entity or body shall be addressed by the payer to the competent authorities of the Member State where the payer is resident.

(ii)

Notifications and requests for authorisation relating to the transfers from an Iranian person, entity or body shall be addressed by the payee to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the payee is resident.

4. For the purposes of paragraph 1(c), the competent authorities shall grant, under such terms and conditions as they deem appropriate, an authorisation for a transfer of funds having a value of EUR 40 000 or more, unless they have reasonable grounds to determine that the transfer of funds for which the authorisation is requested could be in breach of any of the prohibitions or obligations in this Regulation.

A competent authority may charge a fee for the assessment of requests for authorisation.

An authorisation shall be deemed granted if a competent authority has received a request in writing for authorisation and, within four weeks, the competent authority has not objected in writing to the transfer of funds. If the objection is raised because an investigation is pending, the competent authority shall state this and communicate its decision without delay. The competent authorities shall have access, directly or indirectly, on a timely basis to the financial, administrative and law enforcement related information necessary for carrying out the investigation.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of authorisations rejected.

5. This article shall not apply where an authorisation has been granted in accordance with Article 24, 25, 26, 27, or 28.

6. Persons, entities or bodies who merely convert paper documents into electronic data and are acting under a contract with a credit institution or a financial institution do not fall within the scope of this Article, nor does any natural or legal person, entity or body that provides credit or financial institutions solely with a message or other support system for transmitting funds or with clearing and settlement systems.

Article 31

1. Branches and subsidiaries, falling within the scope of Article 49, of credit and financial institutions domiciled in Iran shall notify the competent authority of the Member State where they are established of all transfers of funds carried out or received by them, the names of the parties and the amount and the date of the transaction, within five working days after carrying out or receiving the transfer of funds concerned. If the information is available, the notification must specify the nature of the transaction and, where appropriate, the nature of the goods covered by the transaction and must, in particular, state whether the goods are covered by Annex I, II, III, IV, V, VI or VII of this Regulation and, if their export is subject to authorisation, indicate the number of the licence granted.

2. Subject to and in accordance with the information-sharing arrangements, the other notified competent authorities shall without delay transmit that data, as necessary, in order to prevent any transaction that could contribute to proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or to the development of nuclear weapons delivery systems, to the competent authorities of other Member States where the counterparts to such transactions are established.

Article 32

1. Credit and financial institutions shall, in their activities with entities referred to in paragraph 2 and in order to prevent infringements of the provisions of this Regulation, conduct enhanced vigilance as follows:

(a) exercise continuous vigilance over account activity, particularly through their programmes on customer due diligence;

(b) require that in payment instructions all information fields which relate to the originator and beneficiary of the transaction in question be completed and if that information is not supplied, refuse the transaction;

(c) maintain all records of transactions for a period of five years and make them available to national authorities on request;

(d) if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that activities with credit and financial institutions may be in breach of the provisions of this Regulation, report without delay their suspicions to the financial intelligence unit (FIU) or to another competent authority designated by the Member State concerned, without prejudice to Articles 5 and 23. The FIU or such other competent authority will serve as a national centre for receiving and analysing suspicious transaction reports regarding potential breaches of this Regulation. The FIU or such other competent authority shall have access, directly or indirectly, on a timely basis to the financial, administrative and law enforcement information that it requires to properly undertake this function, including the analysis of suspicious transaction reports.

2. The measures set out in paragraph 1 shall apply to credit and financial institutions in their activities with:

(a) bureaux de change, credit and financial institutions domiciled in Iran;

(b) branches and subsidiaries, where they fall within the scope of Article 49, of credit and financial institutions and bureaux de change domiciled in Iran;

(c) branches and subsidiaries, where they do not fall within the scope of Article 49, of credit and financial institutions and bureaux de change domiciled in Iran; and

(d) bureaux de change, credit and financial institutions that are not domiciled in Iran but are controlled by persons and entities domiciled in Iran.

Article 33

1. It shall be prohibited for credit and financial institutions falling within the scope of Article 49 to do any of the following:

(a) to open a new bank account with a credit or financial institution domiciled in Iran or with any credit or financial institution referred to in Article 32(2);

(b) to establish a new correspondent banking relationship with a credit or financial institution domiciled in Iran or with any credit or financial institution referred to in Article 32(2),

(c) to open a new representative office in Iran or to establish a new branch or subsidiary in Iran;

(d) to establish a new joint venture with a credit or financial institution domiciled in Iran or with any credit or financial institution referred to in Article 32(2).

2. It shall be prohibited:

(a) to authorise the opening of a representative office or the establishment of a branch or subsidiary in the Union of a credit or financial institution domiciled in Iran or of any credit or financial institution referred to in Article 32(2);

(b) to conclude agreements for, or on behalf of, a credit or financial institution domiciled in Iran or for, or on behalf of, any credit or financial institution referred to in Article 32(2) pertaining to the opening of a representative office or the establishment of a branch or subsidiary in the Union;

(c) to grant an authorisation for taking up and pursuing the business of credit institution or for any other business requiring prior authorisation, by a representative office, branch or subsidiary of a credit or financial institution domiciled in Iran or of any credit or financial institution referred to in Article 32(2), if the representative office, branch or subsidiary was not operational before 26 July 2010.

(d) to acquire or to extend a participation, or to acquire any other ownership interest, in a credit or financial institution falling within the scope of Article 49 by any credit or financial institution referred to in Article 32(2).

Article 34

It shall be prohibited:

(a)

to sell or purchase public or public-guaranteed bonds issued after 26 July 2010, directly or indirectly, to or from any of the following:

(i)

Iran or its Government, and its public bodies, corporations and agencies;

(ii)

a credit or financial institution domiciled in Iran or any credit or financial institution referred to in Article 32(2);

(iii)

a natural person or a legal person, entity or body acting on behalf or at the direction of a legal person, entity or body referred to in (i) or (ii);

(iv)

a legal person, entity or body owned or controlled by a person, entity or body referred to in (i), (ii) or (iii);

(b)

to provide brokering services with regard to public or public-guaranteed bonds issued after 26 July 2010 to a person, entity or body referred to in point (a);

(c)

to assist a person, entity or body referred to in point (a) in order to issue public or public-guaranteed bonds, by providing brokering services, advertising or any other service with regard to such bonds.

Article 35

1. It shall be prohibited to provide insurance or re-insurance, or to broker the provision of insurance or reinsurance, to:

(a) Iran or its Government, and its public bodies, corporations and agencies;

(b) an Iranian person, entity or body other than a natural person; or

(c) a natural person or a legal person, entity or body when acting on behalf or at the direction of a legal person, entity or body referred to in (a) or (b).

2. Points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 shall not apply to the provision or brokering of compulsory or third party liability insurance or reinsuranceto Iranian persons, entities and bodies based in the Union, nor to the provision of insurance for Iranian diplomatic or consular missions in the Union.

3. Point (c) of paragraph 1 shall not apply to the provision of insurance or brokering of insurance, including health and travel insurance or reinsurance, to individuals acting in their private capacity, except for persons listed in Annexes VIII and IX.

Point (c) of paragraph 1 shall not prevent the provision of insurance or re-insurance or brokering of insurance to the owner of a vessel, aircraft or vehicle chartered by a person, entity or body referred to in point (a) or (b) of paragraph 1.

For the purpose of point (c) of paragraph 1, a person, entity or body shall not be considered to act at the direction of a person, entity or body referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 where that direction is for the purposes of docking, loading, unloading or safe transit of a vessel or aircraft temporarily in Iranian waters or airspace.

4. This Article prohibits the extension or renewal of insurance and re-insurance agreements concluded before 27 October 2010, but, without prejudice to Article 23(3), it does not prohibit compliance with agreements concluded before that date.