SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 27, 2019--
Gold Reserve Inc. (TSX.V: GRZ) (OTCQX: GDRZF) (“Gold Reserve” or
the “Company”) reports that a trust account at Bandes Bank in Venezuela
that holds approximately $21.5 million of the Company's funds has been
blocked by the US Government under new US sanctions targeting certain
Venezuelan financial institutions. On March 22, 2019, the US Treasury
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Controls ("OFAC") designated
Bandes Bank as a Specially Designated National ("SDN") pursuant to
Executive Order 13850. The trust account at Bandes Bank is held by Gold
Reserve's US subsidiary, Gold Reserve Corporation. As a result of the
SDN designation of Bandes Bank, property in which an SDN has an interest
and that is in the control or possession of a US Person such as Gold
Reserve Corporation must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Gold Reserve
is treating the Bandes Bank trust account as blocked property and will
report the trust account and the funds therein as blocked property to
OFAC as required by applicable regulations.
The trust account and funds will remain blocked property until OFAC
delists Bandes Bank as an SDN or OFAC issues a specific license to Gold
Reserve Corporation to unblock this property. Gold Reserve plans to
submit a license application to OFAC to request the unblocking of the
trust account and funds. The Company is not able to estimate how long
OFAC may take to respond to the license application or to predict
whether OFAC will grant the requested license.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning
of applicable U.S. federal securities laws and “forward-looking
information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial and
territorial securities laws and state Gold Reserve’s and its
management’s intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions for
the future including without limitation statements with respect to
gaining access to the funds held in trust at Bandes Bank, timing for
completion of a license application to OFAC and the successful receipt
thereof, and the receipt of future payments under the Settlement
Agreement. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a
number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by
management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business,
economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies.
We caution that such forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other risks that may cause the actual
outcomes, financial results, performance, or achievements of Gold
Reserve to be materially different from our estimated outcomes, future
results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by those
forward-looking statements, including without limitation the timing of
gaining access to the funds held in trust at Bandes Bank, the ability of
the Company to successfully obtain a license from OFAC to access the
funds held in trust at Bandes Bank, the risks that payments due under
the Settlement Agreement continue to be delayed, the risk that the
Company may not receive future payments due under the Settlement
Agreement, the Company may not be able to repatriate payments that are
received, imposition of further sanctions by the U.S., Canada or other
jurisdictions that may negatively impact the Company’s ability to freely
transfer funds from Venezuela or our ability to do business in Venezuela.
This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of
Gold Reserve’s forward-looking statements. For a more detailed
discussion of the risk factors affecting the Company’s business, see the
Company’s Annual Information Form and Management’s Discussion & Analysis
for the year ended December 31, 2017 which have been filed on SEDAR and
are available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com
and which form part of the Company’s Form 40-F for the year ended
December 31, 2017 which have been filed on EDGAR and are available under
the Company’s profile at www.sec.gov/edgar.
Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements
attributable to Gold Reserve or persons acting on its behalf are
expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Gold Reserve
disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or otherwise
revise any forward-looking statements or the foregoing list of
assumptions or factors, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, subject to its disclosure obligations under
applicable rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission
and applicable Canadian provincial and territorial securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider
(as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190327005435/en/
Source: Gold Reserve Inc.
Gold Reserve Inc.
A. Douglas Belanger, President
999 W.
Riverside Ave., Suite 401
Spokane, WA 99201 USA
Tel. (509)
623-1500
Fax (509) 623-1634