Cuba Denounces New US Treasury Fines
HAVANA TIMES — The Foreign Ministry today denounced a new sanction laid down by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department, which will negatively impact Cuba.
A statement posted on the front page of the Granma newspaper discussed the December 11 imposition of a $375 million fine against London-based HSBC Holdings for violating US sanctions against several countries, including Cuba.
A day after, OFAC announced the implementation of an another fine of $8.5 million against the Japanese bank Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, also for processing financial transactions involving a group of countries that included Cuba.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry considers this to involve “new acts in the extraterritorial application of the provisions of the US blockade against Cuba and also against entities in third countries.
These actions took place less than one month after the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly rejected the blockade.
The Castro “government” does not share financial information with the international watchdogs so they should not be crying but rather be more transparent with their fiances! Too much to ask I guess when youre an oligarchy family business who has been in power for 54 years now!
TRINIDAD GUARDIAN: Cuba on FATF money laundering blacklist – Saturday, June 23, 2012
Cuba, which is at the centre of a money laundering case in which Republic Bank has been named, is on a list of 15 countries that have been identified as not being sufficiently compliant with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the inter-governmental agency that develops provides international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2012-06-23/cuba-fatf-money-laundering-blacklist
Cuba denounces US sanctions? Ouch! I guess it is OK for Cuba to limit the transport and use of the worthless CUC, but when Americans decide how and where US dollars can be used, it is somehow morally repugnant. These foreign banks choose to do business in the US and with Americans abroad. US law stipulates that access to US markets is limited to those companies who continue to obey US law. If a company prefers the business opportunities in Syria, Iran, Sudan, North Korea and Cuba, it is certainly their right to pursue those customers. But if a bank or a manufacturer or a retailer, etc. wants to transact in greenbacks or with yankees, they have to make a choose. Failing to do so results in sanctions.