US and Cuban bank solidify financial relationship

A US and Cuban bank have signed an agreement to create a correspondent banking relationship.  Stonegate, a commercial bank located in Pompano, Florida and the Banco Internacional de Comercio in Havana are moving forward with the agreement.

Such a deal will result in progress for the relationship between Cuba and the United States, advance trade relationships and be of great benefit to American companies.  It will also assist in facilitating money transfers to Cuba.  This US bank will now join the list of foreign banks operating in Cuba, including banks from Spain, Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands.  Banking in Cuba will become easier for US citizens visiting the Island.  This news story was written by Mimi Whitefield and first appeared in the Miami Herald.

In the first major business deal since the United States and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations, Pompano Beach-based Stonegate Bank said Wednesday that it is setting up a correspondent banking relationship with a Cuban financial institution.

Stonegate, a commercial bank with 21 branches in Florida, signed an agreement Tuesday in Havana with Banco Internacional de Comercio. It’s the first correspondent banking deal signed by a U.S. bank with Cuba since President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raúl Castro announced on Dec. 17 that they planned to work toward normalization of relations and it came the day after both countries resumed diplomatic ties.

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BICSA, which was formed in 1993, handles foreign trade financing and foreign exchange transactions and correspondent relationships with banks overseas. Audited annually by Ernst & Young, it has more than 600 correspondent relationships around the world.

“This is another step in terms of normalizing commercial relations between the U.S. and Cuba,” said David Seleski, president and chief executive of Stonegate, which recently began handling the accounts of Cuba’s diplomatic missions in the United States. “The ability to move money easily between the two countries will only increase trade and benefit American companies wishing to do business in Cuba.”

Read more about the development of this new financial relationship between the US and Cuba.
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