[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6081 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6081
To require the President to report on financial institutions'
involvement with officials of the Iranian Government, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 4, 2020
Mr. Hill of Arkansas (for himself and Mr. Lawson of Florida) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial
Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the President to report on financial institutions'
involvement with officials of the Iranian Government, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable
Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Iran is characterized by high levels of official and
institutional corruption, and substantial involvement by Iran's
security forces, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC), in the economy.
(2) In 2019, the Department of the Treasury concluded that
Iran is a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern and
imposed restrictions on correspondent accounts in the United
States involving Iranian financial institutions.
(3) In June 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
urged all jurisdictions to require increased supervisory
examination for branches and subsidiaries of financial
institutions based in Iran. The FATF later called upon its
members to introduce enhanced relevant reporting mechanisms or
systematic reporting of financial transactions, and require
increased external audit requirements, for financial groups
with respect to any of their branches and subsidiaries located
in Iran.
(4) The Transparency International index of perceived
public corruption ranks Iran 138th out of 180 countries
surveyed.
(5) According to the State Department's ``Country Reports
on Terrorism'' in 2018, ``Iran remains the world's worst state
sponsor of terrorism. The regime has spent nearly one billion
dollars per year to support terrorist groups that serve as its
proxies and expand its malign influence across the globe.
Tehran has funded international terrorist groups such as
Hizballah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.''.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS CONNECTED TO CERTAIN IRANIAN
OFFICIALS.
(a) Financial Institutions Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 2 years,
the President shall submit a report to the appropriate Members
of Congress containing--
(A) the estimated total funds held in financial
institutions that are under direct or indirect control
by each of five or more of the natural persons
described under subsection (b), and a description of
such funds; and
(B) a list of any financial institutions that--
(i) maintain an account in connection with
significant funds described in subparagraph
(A); or
(ii) knowingly provide significant
financial services to a natural person covered
by the report.
(2) Briefing required.--Not later than 60 days after
submitting a report described under paragraph (1), the
Secretary of the Treasury, or a designee of the Secretary,
shall brief the appropriate Members of Congress on the funds
covered by the report, including a description of how the funds
were acquired, and any illicit or corrupt means employed to
acquire or use the funds.
(3) Exemptions.--The requirements described under paragraph
(1) may not be applied with respect to a natural person or a
financial institution, as the case may be, if the President
determines:
(A) The funds described under subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (1) were primarily acquired through legal or
noncorrupt means.
(B) The natural person has agreed to provide
significant cooperation to the United States for an
important national security or law enforcement purpose
with respect to Iran.
(C) A financial institution that would otherwise be
listed in the report required by paragraph (1) has
agreed to--
(i) no longer maintain an account described
under subparagraph (C)(i) of paragraph (1);
(ii) no longer provide significant
financial services to a natural person covered
by the report; or
(iii) provide significant cooperation to
the United States for an important national
security or law enforcement purpose with
respect to Iran.
(4) Waiver.--The President may waive for up to 1 year at a
time any requirement under paragraph (1) with respect to a
natural person or a financial institution after reporting in
writing to the appropriate Members of Congress that the waiver
is in the national interest of the United States, with a
detailed explanation of the reasons therefor.
(b) Persons Described.--The natural persons described in this
subsection are the following:
(1) The Supreme Leader of Iran.
(2) The President of Iran.
(3) Members of the Council of Guardians.
(4) Members of the Expediency Council.
(5) The Minister of Intelligence and Security.
(6) The Commander and the Deputy Commander of the IRGC.
(7) The Commander and the Deputy Commander of the IRGC
Ground Forces.
(8) The Commander and the Deputy Commander of the IRGC
Aerospace Force.
(9) The Commander and the Deputy Commander of the IRGC
Navy.
(10) The Commander of the Basij-e-Mostaz'afin.
(11) The Commander of the Qods Force.
(12) The Commander in Chief of the Police Force.
(13) The head of the IRGC Joint Staff.
(14) The Commander of the IRGC Intelligence.
(15) The head of the IRGC Imam Hussein University.
(16) The Supreme Leader's Representative at the IRGC.
(17) The Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the
IRGC Cooperative Foundation.
(18) The Commander of the Khatam-al-Anbia Construction Head
Quarter.
(19) The Chief Executive Officer of the Basij Cooperative
Foundation.
(20) The head of the Political Bureau of the IRGC.
(21) The senior leadership, as determined by the President,
of any terrorist group or regional proxy force supported by the
Government of Iran, including Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, and Kata'ib Hizballah.
(c) Form of Report; Public Availability.--
(1) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall
be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classified
annex.
(2) Public availability.--The President shall make the
unclassified portion of such report public upon determining
that the publication would substantially promote any of the
following:
(A) Deterring or sanctioning official corruption in
Iran.
(B) Holding natural persons listed in the report
accountable to the people of Iran.
(C) Combating money laundering or the financing of
terrorism.
(D) Achieving any other strategic objective with
respect to the Government of Iran.
(3) Waiver.--The President may waive the requirements of
paragraph (2) upon reporting in writing to the appropriate
Members of Congress that the waiver is in the national interest
of the United States, with a detailed explanation of the
reasons therefor.
(4) Format of publicly available reports.--If the President
makes the unclassified portion of a report public pursuant to
paragraph (2), the Secretary of the Treasury shall make it
available to the public on the website of the Department of the
Treasury--
(A) in English, Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri; and
(B) in precompressed, easily downloadable versions
that are made available in all appropriate formats.
SEC. 4. SUNSET.
The provisions of this Act shall have no force or effect on the
earlier of--
(1) the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment of
this Act; or
(2) 30 days after the President reports in writing to the
appropriate Members of Congress that--
(A) Iran is not a jurisdiction of primary money
laundering concern; or
(B) the Government of Iran is providing significant
cooperation to the United States for the purpose of
preventing acts of international terrorism, or for the
promotion of any other strategic objective that is
important to the national interest of the United
States, as specified in the report by the President.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) Appropriate members of congress.--The term
``appropriate Members of Congress'' means the Speaker and
minority leader of the House of Representatives, the majority
leader and minority leader of the Senate, the Chairman and
Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services of the
House of Representatives, and the Chairman and Ranking Member
of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate.
(2) Financial institution.--The term ``financial
institution'' means a United States financial institution or a
foreign financial institution.
(3) Foreign financial institution.--The term ``foreign
financial institution'' has the meaning given that term in
section 561.308 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations.
(4) Funds.--The term ``funds'' has the meaning given to
such term by the Secretary of the Treasury.
(5) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'' with respect to
conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has
actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the
circumstance, or the result.
(6) United states financial institution.--The term ``United
States financial institution'' has the meaning given the term
``U.S. financial institution'' under section 561.309 of title
31, Code of Federal Regulations.
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