On February 6, 2025, the US State Department reversed the Biden Administration’s revocation of President Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 of June 16, 2017 and recreated the Cuba Restricted List (“CRL” or “List”), which identifies entities and subentities that are controlled by, or acting on behalf of, the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel. The US State Department also added a Cuban remittance provider to the CRL, effective March 10, 2025. For…
On January 14, 2025, President Biden took action towards rescinding Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (“SST”) and to remove restrictions on financial transactions with certain Cuban parties by issuing to Congress a Certification of Rescission of Cuba’s Designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (“Certification”) and National Security Memorandum 29 (“NSM-29”) revoking a past National Security Presidential Memorandum related to Cuba that had been issued by then-President Trump in June 2017. President…
Shortly after taking the oath of office today, newly inaugurated President Trump signed a flurry of Executive Orders (“EOs”) and other executive actions. This include several actions related to US sanctions and export controls. Authority to Designate Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists Trump signed an EO Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. This EO creates a legal authority to designate certain international…
On May 28, 2024, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (“CACR”) and issued new and updated frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) to further implement a policy originally announced by the Biden Administration on May 16, 2022 to increase support for the Cuban people and private sector entrepreneurs. The CACR has been revised as follows: OFAC has also issued six new CACR FAQs (1174–1179) and amended eight…