A U.S. Treasury Department official told banking representatives at a recent roundtable meeting not to expect safe harbor protections for providing accounts to money services businesses, according to multiple sources.
Thursday's partial easing of U.S. sanctions against Cuba will do much to bring money to the island nation, but even a full rollback of economic restrictions won't soon resolve the biggest barriers to entry for American banks: low profit margins and high regulatory risk.
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.
High-profile sanctions cases are spurring large banks and third-party software vendors to improve how they identify when counterparts and clients secretly act on behalf of blacklisted entities, say compliance experts.
A consumer protection rule requiring money services businesses to disclose the fees their clients must pay has prompted dozens of banks of all sizes to consider dropping their personal remittance services.
The Royal Bank of Scotland will pay the United States $500 million over Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions violations committed by the now defunct ABN Amro, U.S. officials said Monday.
The U.S. Treasury Department is focusing less on punishing individuals who travel to Cuba and more on egregious, high-dollar violations, according to a government report.
A contradiction between U.S. sanctions rules and federal guidance on Cuban money remitters is prompting some compliance staff to scratch their heads, say analysts.
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 officially loosened restrictions on money sent to Cuba Thursday, lifting caps on dollar amounts remitted and expanding the number of individuals who can receive the funds.
For U.S. financial institutions, recent talks about a potential thaw between the United States and Cuba have signaled more than just a possible end to a Cold War enmity. They’ve signaled dollar signs.
Despite all the rhetoric, combating the networks that finance terrorism and criminal organizations is not a priority for the international community, according to Jimmy Gurulé, a law professor at Notre Dame.
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 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.
U.S. and European banks are dropping their direct and correspondent relationships "and any other ties" with Cuba in an effort to protect themselves from any possible fines or actions they anticipate could be levied by U.S. regulators.