NOTICE DATE:  April 10, 2012

NOTICE TYPE:  W-C041012-01  Settlements

SHORT DESCRIPTION:  Some payment wires to ERCOT being held

INTENDED AUDIENCE:  QSE and CRRAH settlement personnel

DAY AFFECTED:  April 10, 2012

LONG DESCRIPTION: ERCOT has seen an increase in wires being held for review by the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC).  OFAC is an agency of the US Department of Treasury.  OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries, states, organizations, and individuals.  OFAC has authority, granted by Presidential national emergency powers and specific legislation, to impose controls on transactions and freeze assets under US jurisdiction.  

OFAC is using this authority to hold wires from market participants to ERCOT.  A majority of the affected wires are being held due to payment details in the wire, which contain letters such as ‘DAM’ or ‘AUC’ to describe the type of payment.  This combination of letters and spaces are being flagged by the Specially Designated Nationals List published by OFAC.  Neither ERCOT, nor the sending or receiving bank is responsible for what is being held due to OFAC regulations.  If OFAC holds a market participant wire, ERCOT does not have access to the funds, therefore a reminder email will be sent.

For more information about OFAC, visit: Office of Foreign Assets Control

For more information about OFAC Specially Designated Nationals List, visit: Specially Designated Nationals List

Per Protocol Sections 9.4.1, 9.7.1, and 9.9.1, Payment Process for the DAM, RTM, and CRR respectively, all payments are due to ERCOT by 1700 on or before the payment due date.  If a wire is held by OFAC, payment still needs to be made to ERCOT by 1700 on the due date even if a second wire must be sent to ERCOT to cover the invoice.  If two wires are sent, with one being held by OFAC, ERCOT will make every effort to work with the Market Participant, and return the held wire, as soon as it is released by OFAC.  Please contact [log in to unmask] if you have any questions.       

In order to minimize these issues going forward, please review the instructions below.  This is not an all-encompassing list.  Wires may still be held by OFAC.

1. Do not use letters in the payment details of the wire, even if paying invoices for multiple market invoices (DAM, RTM, AUC, etc).  Please only use the invoice number.  Do not use the invoice letters.

Example of wire remarks:  #1234 #5678 #9999

1. If you are sending one wire to pay Collateral, Prepay, and multiple invoices, please send an email to [log in to unmask] and copy [log in to unmask] specifying the breakdown of the wire.

ACTION REQUIRED:  Please update wire and banking information sent to ERCOT

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:  ERCOT no longer accepts ACH.  Please contact [log in to unmask] if you have any questions.

CONTACT:  If you have any questions, please contact your ERCOT Account Manager. You may also call the general ERCOT Client Services phone number at (512) 248-3900 or contact ERCOT Client Services via email at [log in to unmask].

If you are receiving email from an ERCOT distribution list that you no longer wish to receive, please follow this link in order to unsubscribe from this list: http://lists.ercot.com.

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