On July 1, 2011, OFAC issued the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 570 (76 FR 38562, July 1, 2011) (the “Regulations”), to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13566 of February 25, 2011, “Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya” (76 FR 11315, March 2, 2011), pursuant to authorities delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury in E.O. 13566. The Regulations were initially issued in abbreviated form for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public. OFAC is revising the Regulations to further implement E.O. 13566 and to implement E.O. 13726 of April 19, 2016, “Blocking Property and Suspending Entry Into the United States of Persons Contributing to the Situation in Libya” (81 FR 23559, April 21, 2016). OFAC is amending and reissuing the Regulations as a more comprehensive set of regulations that includes additional interpretive guidance and definitions, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public. Due to the number of regulatory sections being updated or added, OFAC is reissuing the Regulations in their entirety.
E.O. 13566. On February 25, 2011, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) (IEEPA), issued E.O. 13566, effective at 8:00 p.m. eastern standard time on February 25, 2011. In E.O. 13566, the President found that Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, his government, and close associates have taken extreme measures against the people of Libya, including by using weapons of war, mercenaries, and wanton violence against unarmed civilians. The President further found that there is a serious risk that Libyan state assets would be misappropriated by Qadhafi, members of his government, members of his family, or his close associates if those assets are not protected. The President found that these circumstances, the prolonged attacks, and the increased numbers of Libyans seeking refuge in other countries from the attacks, had caused a deterioration in the security of Libya and posed a serious risk to its stability, thereby constituting an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.
