International Trade Law News

Published by Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC

President Bush today issued an Executive Order (EO) expanding the scope of U.S. sanctions on Zimbabwe. The EO states that the recent actions and policies of the Government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe's democratic processes or institutions "warrant an expansion of the existing national emergency and the existing sanctions with respect to Zimbabwe."

Among other things, the EO expands the list of specially designated nationals in Zimbabwe to include senior officials of the Government of Zimbabwe and companies owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, the Government of Zimbabwe or an official or officials of the Government of Zimbabwe.

As a result of the EO, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated the following Zimbabwean parastatals and entities that are owned or controlled by the Government of Zimbabwe:

• Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (a.k.a MMCZ), the sole marketing and export agent for all minerals, except gold and silver, mined in Zimbabwe;
• Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (a.k.a. ZMDC), involved in investment in the mining industry in Zimbabwe, and in planning, coordinating and implementing mining projects on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe;
• Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (a.k.a. ZISCO), Zimbabwe's largest steel works;
• Agricultural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (a.k.a Agribank), a commercial bank owned by the Government of Zimbabwe;
• Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe Ltd, a state-owned enterprise that owns a large number of companies operating in the industrial sector, including the chemical, clothing and textiles, mineral processing, and motor and transport sectors;
• Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe, a financing entity; Zimre Holdings Limited, an investment and reinsurance entity;
• ZB Financial Holdings Limited, a holding company for a group of companies involved in commercial and merchant banking and four subsidiaries of ZB Financial Holdings Limited: ZB Bank Limited (a.k.a Zimbank), ZB Holdings Limited, Intermarket Holdings Limited, and Scotfin Limited.

Also designated today by OFAC were:

• Thamer Bin Saeed Ahmed Al-Shanfari, an Omani national with close ties to Mugabe and his top officials, as well as his company, Oryx Natural Resources.
  
• OSLEG (a.k.a. Operation Sovereign Legitimacy), an enterprise that is a commercial arm of the Zimbabwean army representing its interests in the DRC and elsewhere, and which is controlled by various senior officials in Zimbabwe.
• Divine Homes, a property company whose Chairman is SDN David Chapfika, Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister of Agriculture;
• COMOIL (Pvt) Ltd., a petroleum importing company, owned by SDN Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister of Youth Development and Employment Creation;
  
• Famba Safaris, a registered Zimbabwean safari operator, whose Director and major shareholder is SDN Webster Shamu, Mugabe's Minister of State for Policy Implementation.
  

As a result of Treasury's action, any assets of the individual and entities designated today that are within U.S. jurisdiction must be frozen. U.S. persons are also prohibited from conducting financial or commercial transactions with the individual or entities.

Labels: OFAC, Zimbabwe