MIAMI – June 28, 2016 – In a first-of-its-kind event, Greenberg Traurig attorneys gathered to address remittances and the financial services sector in Cuba during the recent IMTC 2016 Cuba Conference that took place June 27 in La Habana, Cuba.
“This conference allowed us to join an important and on-going international conversation on the state of the financial services industry in Cuba,” said Yosbel A. Ibarra, co-chair of Greenberg Traurig's Latin American and Iberian Practice. “We have been advising clients on Cuba-related matters for years, and events like these allow us to speak with industry leaders and regulators about the practical consequences of doing business in Cuba.”
Jointly organized by IMTC and Cuba Educational Travel, this year’s conference included a presentation by Carl A. Fornaris, co-chair of the firm’s Financial Regulatory and Compliance Practice. Fornaris provided an update on the current financial relationship between the United States and Cuba.
“With the loosening of long-standing U.S. sanctions rules that now permit U.S. financial institutions to provide additional financial services to the Cuban market, this ground-breaking conference in Havana served as an ideal platform to permit us to exchange ideas on how new U.S. policy changes will help promote the provision of financial services between customers in Cuba and the United States,” Fornaris said. “Widening the permissible remittances that can be sent to Cuba from the United States not only supports civil society in Cuba, but also gives U.S. money transmitters more incentive to provide financial services to Cuba.”
IMTC Conferences are developed by IMTC, a dedicated team of professionals with relevant experience in the international money transfer industry as well as in the events industry. IMTC partners with Mohr World Consulting, The Spark Group and a wide range of associations and organizations, multilateral as well as government institutions, from around the globe.
Since President Obama’s historic announcement on December 17, 2014, that the U.S. would re-establish closer diplomatic ties with Cuba, Greenberg Traurig attorneys have advised U.S. and non-U.S. clients seeking to take advantage of possible business opportunities in Cuba. Greenberg Traurig is widely recognized as having one of the leading Latin American transactional practices, having acted as lead counsel on numerous complex M&A and other corporate transactions.
Ibarra’s practice focuses on complex business transactions in the United States, Spain and across Latin America. He has wide-ranging experience in cross-border M&A, debt finance and project finance transactions, including public-private partnerships. On matters related to Cuba, the corporate team is led by Ibarra. Born in Cuba, Ibarra is a frequent speaker on Cuba-related issues.
Fornaris concentrates his practice on the representation of U.S. and non-U.S. firms on finance and corporate matters, and provides supervisory and compliance counseling for institutions regulated by the Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, FinCEN, CFPB, SEC, FINRA, Florida Office of Financial Regulation and other state supervisory authorities. Fornaris frequently speaks at conferences regarding financial regulation and compliance.
Greenberg Traurig’s Cuba Practice is also supported by lawyers from across the firm with expertise in areas relevant to doing business in Cuba, including the Washington, D.C.-based Export Controls & Trade Sanctions group, which regularly advises on matters related to the Cuban embargo regulations, including proceedings before the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. One firm worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.