OFAC securities licenses for Severstal and Nordgold expire

MOSCOW. Sept 1 (Interfax) - United States citizens are no longer eligible to conduct transactions to sell or transfer the securities of Severstal and/or Nordgold , as the licenses issued by the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for exiting investments in and/or curtailing operations with the companies have expired.

The OFAC issued the respective licenses in June, after having added Russian entrepreneur Alexei Mordashov and members of his family, as well as companies under their control, to the specially designated nationals and blocked persons (SDN) list. The SDN sanctions list includes companies associated with the Mordashov family, including Severstal, Nordgold, Severgroup, and Algorithm.

The respective licenses permitted U.S. citizens to deal with non-residents in order to exit investments in Severstal and/or Nordgold securities by August 31, inclusive. The licenses also permitted curtailing operations with Severstal by August 31, inclusive.

Anticipating the expiration date of the respective licenses, Clearstream ceased settlements in the securities of both companies following the close of business on August 30.

Thursday is formally the final day for U.S. citizens to curtail operations with another Russian metals and mining company included in the SDN List, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) . The OFAC license expires during the day on September 1. Meantime, unlike with Severstal, with both licenses expiring on the same date, the OFAC set two separate deadlines for MMK, thereby permitting U.S. citizens to exit the company's securities by October 3, inclusive,