On September 6, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that effective October 9, one Cuban-American may remit no more than $1,000 per one family member on the island, per-quarter.[1]
In addition, the new rules forbid remittances to “close family members of prohibited Cuban officials and members of the Cuban Communist Party.” Also prohibited are remittances by non-family members.
On the other hand, the new rules will authorize remittances to certain individuals and independent non-governmental organizations in Cuba “to support the operation of economic activity in the non-state sector by self-employed individuals, in light of . . . [U.S.] policy to encourage the growth of the Cuban private sector independent of government control.”
Treasury’s new rules will also ban “banking institutions subject to U.S. jurisdiction . . . [from processing] certain funds transfers originating and terminating outside the United States, commonly known as “U-turn” transactions.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “We are taking additional steps to financially isolate the Cuban regime. The United States holds the Cuban regime accountable for its oppression of the Cuban people and support of other dictatorships throughout the region, such as the illegitimate Maduro regime. . . Through these regulatory amendments, Treasury is denying Cuba access to hard currency, and we are curbing the Cuban government’s bad behavior while continuing to support the long-suffering people of Cuba.”
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[1] U.S. Treasury Dep’t, Treasury Issues Changes to Strengthen Cuba Sanctions Rules (Sept. 6, 2019; Assoc. Press, US Limits Amounts of Money That Americans Can Send to Cuba, N.Y. Times (sept. 6, 2019).