The United States tightened financial restrictions on Cuba and ordered that, starting on September 30, 2026, banks under U.S. jurisdiction block the accounts and funds they held for private Cuban entrepreneurs under an authorization created in 2024.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury announced this Tuesday the modification of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), which will come into effect this Wednesday, September 30, following its publication in the Federal Register.
The change removes the authorization previously contained in section 515.584(h)(2), which allowed banking institutions subject to U.S. jurisdiction to open and maintain accounts solely in the name of Cuban citizens considered independent private sector entrepreneurs, for conducting certain authorized or exempt operations from sanctions.
OFAC was explicit about the effect of the measure on existing accounts: unless there is another applicable authorization, U.S. banks must “immediately block these funds and accounts” and will need a specific license from the agency to unblock them.
The agency also noted in an alert issued this September 29 that institutions holding accounts under the now-revoked authorization must block all those funds and accounts and report them to OFAC, unless there is a separate authorization.
Subsequent access to the blocked funds will also require a specific license.
The authorization that is disappearing was expanded in May 2024. Until now, a private Cuban entrepreneur could open an account at a U.S. financial institution and access it remotely from Cuba, the United States, or a third country, as well as make transfers—including to Cuba—as long as the underlying transaction was authorized or exempt from restrictions.
The scope of the measure, however, does not mean that all possibility of a Cuban citizen residing on the island maintaining an account in the United States disappears.
OFAC maintains a more limited authorization in section 515.584(h), which allows for the opening and maintenance of accounts solely in the name of Cubans located in Cuba to receive payments in the United States for authorized or exempt transactions and subsequently remit those funds to the island.
For example, a Cuban citizen can maintain an account intended to receive payments derived from an activity allowed by regulations.
What has been eliminated is the additional regime that allowed independent entrepreneurs in the private sector to use those accounts more freely for certain authorized business operations.
OFAC defines this category of private entrepreneur according to section 515.340 of the Cuban regulations, which includes certain individuals and small independent businesses that meet the requirements established by US regulations. The new rule does not eliminate other authorizations that may apply to specific operations.
The modification is part of a broader package of financial restrictions announced by Washington. Starting from September 30th, U.S. banks will also be prohibited from processing the so-called U-Turn (financial transit operations) transactions related to Cuba.
These operations allowed a U.S. financial institution to process transfers in which Cuba or a Cuban citizen had an interest when the money originated and concluded outside the United States and neither the sender nor the recipient were subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
Under the new regulation, banks will be authorized to reject those transfers instead of processing them.
OFAC also expanded the financial restrictions related to the Restricted List of Cuba.
Starting this Wednesday, individuals subject to U.S. jurisdiction will be prohibited from participating not only in certain direct operations with entities included on that list but also in indirect financial transactions where they act as intermediaries.
The measures are part of the implementation of the Presidential Memorandum on National Security 5, reissued and amended by the Donald Trump administration on June 30, 2025, and complement the new Cuba Sanctions Regulations related to Executive Order 14404, signed on May 1, 2026.
The shift from Washington comes just a few weeks after the Cuban government relaxed its own regulations regarding foreign currency accounts.
At the beginning of the month, the changes initiated by the Central Bank of Cuba began to be announced and, on the 10th, Resolution 102/2026 was published, which eliminated the need to obtain prior authorization from the BCC to open accounts in foreign currency.
The Cuban regulation allows non-state economic actors —including small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, and self-employed workers— to receive certain incomes in foreign currency and use these accounts for operations such as payments abroad, transfers, buying and selling foreign currency, and, depending on banking conditions, cash withdrawals.
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