The U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions enforcer issued regulations Thursday permitting American banks to transact directly with their Cuban counterparts for the first time in decades.
The U.S. Treasury Department has accelerated efforts to remove qualified individuals and entities from its list of Specially Designated Nationals, according to the list's chief administrator.
New U.S. Treasury Department regulations easing economic sanctions against Cuba and the compliance burden of financial institutions could make it easier for money remitters to break the rules, say analysts.
The U.S. Treasury Department will likely move quickly in drafting regulations that loosen most restrictions on money remitted from the United States to Cuba, say banking professionals.
The Obama administration said Monday that it would lift restrictions on how much money Cuban Americans can send to Cuba, easing financial constraints first established in the 1960s.
The U.S. Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would allow businesses to travel to Cuba for the sale of agricultural and medical products, the first rollback of economic sanctions against the country in over eight years.
The incoming Obama administration is likely to scale back limits on remittances to Cuba imposed by President Bush, a move that would be welcomed by the U.S. financial community, according to bank regulatory specialists.
Banco del Alba, launched Jan. 26 by Venezuela President Hugo Chavez and three of his allies as an alternative to the World Bank and a U.S.-backed free trade pact, includes among its members Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba, a country that has long been the subject of U.S. sanctions.
Florida Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has accused UBS, the largest Swiss Bank and one of the worlds largest financial institutions, with laundering money for Fidel Castro.
In its latest International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the report cites the U.S. as one of 53 countries and territories that are of "primary concern" for money laundering.