On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) formally sanctioned the International Bank of Yemen Y.S.C. (“IBY”) over the institution’s support of the Houthi organization. Along with designating the bank itself, OFAC also designated three senior officials of IBY: Kamal Hussain Al Jebry, the bank’s chairman; Ahmed Thabit Noman Al-Absi, executive general manager; and Abdulkader Ali Bazara, deputy general manager. All four entities were added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List (“SDN List”). These sanctions are part of a broader and ongoing strategy to disrupt Iran’s influence in the region and to curb Houthi attacks on commercial shipping throughout the nearby waterways.
According to OFAC, the IBY has continued to provide the Houthis with material support. While most Yemeni banks have moved out of Houthi controlled regions, IBY continued to remain headquartered in Houthi-controlled territory in northern Yemen. In doing so, the bank continued to provide the Houthis with access to the bank’s Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (“SWIFT”) network. This allowed the Houthis to make international financial transactions, including purchasing oil and otherwise evading sanctions. IBY has even taken the steps to confiscate assets from Houthi opponents that were held in the bank.
These sanctions are the standard blocking sanctions employed by OFAC. As such, all property, assets, and interests in property of IBY and these officials that are in the U.S. or in possession or control of U.S. Persons are now considered blocked. U.S. Persons should avoid any transactions with these entities, as well as any entities owned 50-percent or more by this group.
In conjunction with these designations, OFAC has issued General License No. 33, which authorizes a brief 30-day wind down period for any existing transactions with the IBY. This wind down period expires 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, May 17, 2025. Importantly, this General License does not authorize any new transactions.
Considering the escalating tensions in the region, expect sanctions restrictions to continue to increase over the coming weeks and months. The Trump Administration continues to spar directly with the Houthis, including a recent air strike on an oil port in Yemen’s Hodeida province. Recent reports suggest that the U.S. is also at least considering strikes directly on Iranian facilities. Sanctions designations will typically rise along with tensions and threats of military actions. These events will also push these sanctions regulations to the forefront of enforcement for OFAC.