US opens up banking to private Cuban businesses to boost small firms

The measures allow independent entrepreneurs to open and access US bank accounts online to support their businesses. “These regulatory amendments update and clarify authorizations in support of internet-based services to promote internet freedom in Cuba, support independent Cuban private sector entrepreneurs, and expand access to certain financial services for the Cuban people,” the US Department of the Treasury said in a news release. One of the key changes would allow Cuban private business owners to open bank accounts in the US and then access them online once back in Cuba — something they couldn’t do previously. “This reinstated authorization is intended to help the Cuban people, including independent private sector entrepreneurs, by facilitating remittances and payments for transactions in the Cuban private sector,” the release said. The Treasury Department’s updated guidance also changed terminology that the agency uses to make clear that Cuban officials or prohibited Cuban Communist Party members were not benefitting from the changes that are aimed at the country’s emerging private sector.