The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury has issued General License 1A, “Authorizing Transactions Involving Securities of Certain Communist Chinese Military Companies,” which supersedes and replaces General License 1, issued on January 8, 2021. OFAC also published answers to two frequently asked questions to clarify the operation of the new General License in relation to Executive Order 13959, as amended by Executive Order 13974.
By issuing GL 1A, OFAC extended the expiration date of GL 1 to May 27, 2021. With some exceptions, GL 1A authorizes transactions that would otherwise be prohibited by Executive Orders 13959 and 13974 and involve the publicly traded securities of entities whose names closely match, but not identical, to the name of a communist Chinese military company as defined in the referenced executive orders. GL 1A does not authorize transactions involving the publicly traded securities of entities on OFACs list of Communist Chinese Military Companies
Two Frequently Asked Questions published in conjunction with GL 1A, FAQs 878 and 879, restate the terms of the general license and the prohibitions that remain in place pursuant to Executive Order 13959, as amended.