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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