The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Venezuela General License 5S, authorizing certain transactions related to the Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. 2020 8.5 Percent Bond.  Under this general license, transactions related to the Petróleos Bond that were generally prohibited by Executive Order 13835 in May 2018 by will be allowed. The May 2018 Executive order addresses transactions involving entities in which the Government of Venezuela has a 50% or greater ownership interest.  The first Trump administration specifically named Petróleos as agency or instrumentality of the Venezuelan Government for sanctions purposes in Executive Order 13857 of January 25, 2019.  General License 5S replaces General License 5R and will extend the timeframe for transactions related to the Bond from July 3, 2025 to December 20, 2025.

The license is available on OFAC’s website and can be found here: General License 5S