EFG International settles Cuba, blocked persons U.S. sanctions case

Swiss-based global private banking group EFG International agreed to pay more than $3.7 million as part of a settlement with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) addressing apparent violations of U.S. sanctions against Cuba and two blocked individuals.

In an enforcement release published Thursday, OFAC alleged EFG processed securities-related transactions worth nearly $30 million on behalf of customers based in or linked to Cuba. The agency said EFG also processed transactions for a Chinese national sanctioned under the Kingpin Act, as well as a person blocked under OFAC’s Russia sanctions program.

EFG voluntarily self-disclosed the apparent violations, and OFAC determined they were “non-egregious.” The agency said it would suspend $1 million of the settlement total, “pending satisfactory completion of certain compliance commitments.”