To date there are a total of ten foreign banks with representative offices operating in Cuba but the list is expanding. These are not branch offices of the banks themselves. Foreign banks in Cuba manage the banking between their offices and offices of the Cuban banking system. These offices specialize in commercial banking. The American embargo/blockade continues to make it extremely difficult for Cuba to obtain credit, transfer money, transact in US dollars, have correspondent banking relationships and engage in free trade. It also adversely effects foreign business persons who are not American citizens but carry out business with Cuba by freezing their funds and charging huge fines against them. International banks fear operating in Cuba because of the huge fines imposed by the United States Cuba Assets Control Regulations (CACR). In the past, banks such as BNP Paribas, Barclays, Commerzbank and Credit Agricole are just a few of the banks which have paid huge fines levied by CACR. Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s Minister of the Foreign Affairs Department, outlined the outstanding problems of the embargo/blockade in a report dated March 15 of this year:Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. “Cuba’s authorization to use US dollars in its international transactions, a measure…
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