As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Active business operations" means all business operations that are not inactive business operations.
(2) "Business operations" means engaging in commerce in any form in Iran, including by acquiring, developing, maintaining, owning, selling, possessing, leasing, or operating equipment, facilities, personnel, products, services, personal property, real property, or any other apparatus of business or commerce.
(3) "Company" means any sole proprietorship, organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or other entity or business association, including all wholly-owned subsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries, parent companies, or affiliates of such entities or business associations, that exist for profit-making purposes.
(4) "Direct holdings" in a company, means all securities of that company held directly by the public fund or in an account or fund in which the public fund owns all shares or interests.
(5) "Iran" means the government of Iran, and includes the territory of Iran and any other territory or marine area, including the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, over which the government of Iran claims sovereignty, sovereign rights, or jurisdiction, provided that the government of Iran exercises partial or total control over the area or derives a benefit from economic activity in the area pursuant to international arrangements.
(6) "Inactive business operations" means the mere continued holding or renewal of rights to property previously operated for the purpose of generating revenues but not presently deployed for such purpose.
(7) "Indirect holdings" in a company means all securities of that company held in an account or fund, such as a mutual fund, managed by one or more persons not employed by the public fund, in which the public fund owns shares or interests together with other investors not subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(8) "Public fund" means Rhode Island state pension funds or the state investment commission in charge of the Rhode Island state pension funds.
(9) "Scrutinized business operations" means any and all active business operations that are subject or liable to sanctions under Public Law 104-172, as amended, the "Iran Sanctions Act of 1996," and that involve the maintenance of a company's existing assets or investments in Iran, or the deployment of new investments to Iran that meet or exceed the twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) threshold referred to in Public Law 104-172, as amended, the "Iran Sanctions Act of 1996." "Scrutinized operations" does not include the retail sale of gasoline and related products.
(10) "Scrutinized company" means any company engaging in scrutinized business operations.
(11) "Substantial action" means adopting, publicizing, and implementing a formal plan to cease scrutinized business operations within one year and to refrain from any such new business operations; undertaking significant humanitarian efforts on behalf of one or more marginalized populations of Iran; or through engagement with the government of Iran.
History of Section.
P.L. 2013, ch. 173, § 1; P.L. 2013, ch. 225, § 1.