Cuba criticizes $9B US fine for French bank

Posted on Thursday, 07.03.14



Cuba criticizes $9B US fine for French bank

BY PETER ORSI

ASSOCIATED PRESS



HAVANA -- Havana on Thursday protested U.S. penalties levied against

France's largest bank over allegations it processed financial

transactions for Cuba and other blacklisted states in violation of U.S.

trade sanctions.



In a statement published by Cuban official media, the Foreign Ministry

said the penalties "violate the rules of international law and qualify

as an extraterritorial and illegal application of American legislation

against a foreign entity."



The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday that BNP Paribas had agreed

to pay nearly $9 billion to settle the case. Under the deal, the

Paris-based bank entered a guilty plea in a New York Court and

acknowledged processing billions of dollars in transactions for clients

in Cuba, Sudan and Iran.



U.S. prosecutors said the transactions were handled by BNP's New York

branch office from at least 2004 through 2012.



"Sanctions are a key tool in protecting U.S. national security

interests, but they only work if they are strictly enforced," Attorney

General Eric Holder said earlier this week. "If sanctions are to have

teeth, violations must be strictly punished."



But the Cuban Foreign Ministry questioned the legitimacy of Washington's

52-year-old embargo, which aims to isolate Communist-run Cuba

economically and financially, and alluded to the annual, near-unanimous

U.N. General Assembly votes calling for an end to what Havana refers to

as a "blockade."



"Once again, the U.S. government ignores the overwhelming international

rejection of this criminal and failed policy against our nation," the

statement said. "With actions like this, it also ignores the increasing

calls from different sectors of American society in favor of a

fundamental change in policy toward Cuba."



U.S. authorities have targeted several banks in recent years for similar

cases involving trade sanctions against Cuba and other nations.



In December 2012, Havana objected to a $1.9 billion fine against

London-based HSBC, Europe's largest bank, and an $8.6 million settlement

with Japan's Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.



Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter-Orsi



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