Trafficking in Confiscated Cuban Property: Lender Liability under the Helms‐Burton Act

The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (the Act) provides for extraterritorial jurisdiction and sanctions against foreign companies which traffic in confiscated US‐owned Cuban property. The Act provides US nationals with a private right of action in US courts against foreign companies which benefit from the use of confiscated property. The Act also authorises the exclusion from US territory of any corporate officers, directors, or controlling shareholders, including their spouses and minor children, of companies which derive any economic benefit from the use of confiscated Cuban property. Moreover, s. 103(a) of Title I of the Act imposes civil liability against any lending institution with a US presence which knowingly makes any loans to persons who benefit from the use of confiscated Cuban property.