§ 515.584 Certain financial transactions involving Cuba.

(a) Correspondent accounts. Depository institutions, as defined in § 515.333, are authorized to engage in all transactions necessary to establish and maintain correspondent accounts at a financial institution that is a national of Cuba, provided that such accounts are used only for transactions authorized pursuant to, or exempt from, this part.

(b) Testing arrangements. Depository institutions are authorized to set up testing arrangements and exchange authenticator keys with any financial institution that is a national of Cuba for transactions authorized pursuant to, or exempt from, this part.

(c) Credit and debit cards. All transactions incident to the processing and payment of credit and debit cards involving travel-related and other transactions consistent with § 515.560 are authorized.

(d) Funds transfers. Any banking institution, as defined in § 515.314, that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction is authorized to reject funds transfers originating and terminating outside the United States, provided that neither the originator nor the beneficiary is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

(e) Unblocking of certain previously blocked funds transfers authorized. Any banking institution, as defined in § 515.314, that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction is authorized to unblock and return to the originator or originating financial institution or their successor-in-interest previously blocked funds transfers that could have been processed pursuant to § 515.562(b) or § 515.579(b) if the processing of those transfers would have been authorized had they been sent under the current text of those provisions. Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction unblocking funds transfers that were originally blocked on or after August 25, 1997, pursuant to this section must submit a report to the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Attn: Sanctions Compliance & Evaluation Division, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Freedman's Bank Building, Washington, DC 20220 within 10 business days from the date such funds transfers are released. Such reports shall include the following:

(1) Where available, a copy of the original blocking report filed with OFAC pursuant to § 501.603(b)(1) of this chapter.

(2) The date the unblocked funds transfer was released;

(3) The amount of funds unblocked;

(4) The name of the party to whom the funds were released; and

(5) A reference to this section as the legal authority under which the funds transfer was unblocked and returned.

(f) Any banking institution, as defined in § 515.314, that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction is authorized to provide financing for exports or reexports of items, other than agricultural commodities, authorized pursuant to § 515.533, including issuing, advising, negotiating, paying, or confirming letters of credit (including letters of credit issued by a financial institution that is a national of Cuba), accepting collateral for issuing or confirming letters of credit, and processing documentary collections. With the exception of transactions related to exports or reexports of medicines or medical supplies, items associated with the provision of telecommunications and internet services for the Cuban people, or items associated with air and sea operations that support permissible travel, cargo, or trade, nothing in this paragraph authorizes a direct financial transaction prohibited by § 515.209.

(g) Any banking institution, as defined in § 515.314, that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction is authorized to accept, process, and give value to U.S. dollar monetary instruments presented for processing and payment by a banking institution located in a third country that is not a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction or a Cuban national and that has received the U.S. dollar monetary instruments from a financial institution that is a national of Cuba for which it maintains a correspondent account and which received the U.S. dollar monetary instruments in connection with an underlying transaction that is authorized, exempt, or otherwise not prohibited by this part, such as dollars spent in Cuba by authorized travelers or a third-country transaction that is not prohibited by this part.

(h) Any banking institution, as defined in § 515.314, that is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction is authorized to open and maintain accounts solely in the name of a Cuban national located in Cuba for the purposes only of receiving payments in the United States in connection with transactions authorized pursuant to, or exempt from the prohibitions of, this part and remitting such payments to Cuba.

[80 FR 2301, Jan. 16, 2015, as amended at 80 FR 56925, Sept. 21, 2015; 81 FR 4586, Jan. 27, 2016; 81 FR 13994, Mar. 16, 2016; 81 FR 71378, Oct. 17, 2016; 82 FR 52004, Nov. 9, 2017; 84 FR 47123, Sept. 9, 2019]