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 a more detailed discussion of this reversal and President Trump’s designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, please see our recent blog post.
The reinstated List includes some of Cuba’s government ministries and defense and security enterprises, and targets various sectors of the Cuban economy, including real estate, tourism, retail, and hospitality. Dozens of hotels are included on the List, including those located in areas popular with foreign tourists. The CRL also identifies five holding companies, four of which are affiliated with numerous subentities that are also now listed on the CRL. Entities or subentities owned or controlled by an entity or subentity included on the CRL are not themselves treated as restricted unless specified by name on the List.
The decision to reinstate the CRL is significant, because the Cuban Assets Control Regulations prohibit persons subject to US jurisdiction from engaging in “direct financial transactions” with a CRL party under most circumstances. A person engages in a “direct financial transaction” by acting (i) as the originator on a transfer of funds whose ultimate beneficiary is an entity or subentity on the CRL or (ii) as the ultimate beneficiary on a transfer of funds whose originator is an entity or subentity on the CRL, including a transaction by wire transfer, credit card, check, or payment of cash.
The other ramification of the CRL reinstatement is that the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security will apply a policy of denial under the Export Administration Regulations to license applications that propose to export/reexport items to CRL parties.
If you have questions regarding this regulatory development, please contact our Outbound Trade team for more information.
