New Legal Guarantees for Foreign Investors Approved

On Friday Cuba announced the approval of two new legal provisions that grant further guarantees to foreign capital business and protect investors.

Decree-Law 14, approved by the Council of State last September and published yesterday in the Official Gazette, provides confidence and security to foreign investors through actions such as the mortgage and the pledge.

According to the legal director of MINCEX, María del Carmen March and the legal secretary of the Central Bank of Cuba, Marta Lusson Arguelle, Decree-Law No. 14 of the Pledge and the Mortgage and Decree-Law No. 15 of the Guarantee Trust provide commercial guarantees in support of the granting of external financing linked to foreign investment businesses.

Ms del Carmen told the press conference that the new law-decree also authorizes the mortgage on immovable property or royalties in sectors of special economic interest, after express approval by the government.

The regulation also establishes that the government has the “preferential right to acquire mortgage securities,” del Carmen said.

Decree-Law 15, published in the same edition of the Gazette, establishes a legal framework for the use of the trust as a guarantee tool.

By way of a written contract, a natural or legal person can transfer the custody of assets or the ownership of some rights to a financial institution, according to Ms Lusson.

It also must also be approved by the Council of Ministers or the Council of State.

These protections already exist in Cuban legislation, but now they extend to other economic sectors to support foreign investment opportunities on the Island.