49-11-306 - Definitions -- Scrutinized Companies Investment Report -- Content -- Reporting -- Exceptions.
49-11-306. Definitions -- Scrutinized Companies Investment Report -- Content --Reporting -- Exceptions.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Active business operations" means all business operations that are not inactivebusiness operations.
(b) (i) "Business operations" means investing, with actual knowledge on or after August5, 1996, in Iran's petroleum sector which investment directly and significantly contributes to theenhancement of Iran's ability to develop the petroleum resources of Iran.
(ii) "Business operations" does not include the retail sale of gasoline and relatedconsumer products.
(c) "Company" means any foreign sole proprietorship, organization, association,corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limitedliability company, or any other foreign entity or business association, including all wholly-ownedsubsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries or parent companies or affiliates of these entities orbusiness associations, that exists for the purpose of making a profit.
(d) "Direct holdings" means all publicly traded equity securities of a company that areheld directly by the public fund or in an account or fund in which the public fund owns all sharesor interests.
(e) "Inactive business operations" means the continued holding or renewal of rights toproperty previously operated for the purpose of generating revenues but not presently deployedfor that purpose.
(f) "Iran" means the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(g) "Petroleum resources" means petroleum or natural gas.
(h) "Public fund" means the Utah State Retirement Investment Fund created underSection 49-11-301.
(i) "Scrutinized business operations" means any active business operations that:
(i) are subject to or liable for sanctions under Public Law 104-172, the Iran Sanctions Actof 1996, as amended; and
(ii) involve the maintenance of:
(A) the company's existing assets or investments in Iran; or
(B) the deployment of new investments to Iran that meet or exceed the threshold referredto in Public Law 104-172, the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, as amended.
(j) "Scrutinized company" means any company engaging in scrutinized businessoperations.
(2) (a) The Utah State Retirement Office shall identify those scrutinized companies inwhich the public fund has direct holdings. In making the determination, the board shall reviewand rely on publicly available information regarding companies with business operations in Iran,including information provided by nonprofit organizations, research firms, internationalorganizations, and government entities.
(b) The office shall assemble a list of all identified scrutinized companies.
(c) The office shall update the list, on an annual basis, with information provided andreceived from those entities listed in Subsection (2)(a).
(3) The office shall prepare an annual report of public fund investments in scrutinizedcompanies.
(4) The report shall include amounts and other data and statistics designed to explain the
past and current extent to which public fund investments in scrutinized companies are present.
(5) The report shall be provided to the governor, the board, the president of the Senate,the speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each member and staff of the Retirement andIndependent Entities Committee created under Section 63E-1-201.
(6) The provisions of this section do not apply to:
(a) money invested in a defined contribution plan as defined under Section 49-11-102; or
(b) investments in a company that is primarily engaged in:
(i) supplying goods or services intended to relieve human suffering in Iran; or
(ii) promoting health, education, religious, welfare, or journalistic activities in Iran.
Enacted by Chapter 54, 2009 General Session