Reference to any section of this part or to any regulation, ruling, order, instruction, direction or license issued pursuant to this part shall be deemed to refer to the same as currently amended unless otherwise so specified.

Any amendment, modification, or revocation of any section of this part or of any order, regulation, ruling, instruction, or license issued by or under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 3(a) or 5(b) of the Trading With the Enemy Act, as amended, or pursuant to Proclamation 3447, shall not unless otherwise specifically provided be deemed to affect any act done or omitted to be done, or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil or criminal case, prior to such amendment, modification, or revocation, and all penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities under any such section, order, regulation, ruling, instruction or license shall continue and may be enforced as if such amendment, modification, or revocation had not been made.

(a) Except as provided in § 515.525, whenever a transaction licensed or authorized by or pursuant to this part results in the transfer of property (including any property interest) away from a designated national, such property shall no longer be deemed to be property in which a designated national has or has had an interest unless there exists in such property an interest of a designated national, the transfer of which has not been effected pursuant to license or other authorization.

(b) Unless otherwise specifically provided in a license or authorization contained in or issued pursuant to this part, if property (including any property interest) is transferred to a designated national such property shall be deemed to be property in which there exists the interest of a designated national.

A transaction between any person within the United States and any principal, agent, home office, branch, or correspondent, outside the United States of such person is a transaction prohibited by § 515.201 to the same extent as if the parties to the transaction were in no way affiliated or associated with each other.

Section 515.201 prohibits the exportation of securities, currency, checks, drafts and promissory notes to a designated foreign country.

Section 515.201 prohibits the presentation, acceptance or payment of:

(a) Drafts or other orders for payment drawn under irrevocable letters of credit issued in favor or on behalf of any designated national;

(b) Drafts or other orders for payment, in which any designated national has on or since the “effective date” had any interest, drawn under any irrevocable letter of credit; and

(c) Documentary drafts in which any designated national has on or since the “effective date” had any interest.

With respect to transactions incident to the administration of the blocked estate of a decedent, including the appointment and qualification of personal representatives, the collection and liquidation of assets, the payment of claims, and distribution to beneficiaries, attention is directed to § 515.523, which authorizes all transactions incident to the administration and distribution of the assets of blocked estates of decedents.

Section 515.201 prohibits access to any safe deposit box within the United States in the custody of any designated national or containing any property in which any designated national has any interest or which there is reasonable cause to believe contains property in which any such designated national has any interest. Attention is directed to § 515.517 which authorizes access to such safe deposit boxes under certain conditions.

Section 515.201 prohibits any request or authorization made by or on behalf of a bank or other person within the United States to a bank or other person outside of the United States as a result of which request or authorization such latter bank or person makes a payment or transfer of credit either directly or indirectly to a designated national.

Section 515.204 prohibits, unless licensed, the importation of commodities of Cuban origin. It also prohibits, unless licensed, persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States from purchasing, transporting or otherwise dealing in commodities of Cuban origin which are outside the United States. Attention is directed to § 515.585, which authorizes certain dealings in commodities of Cuban origin outside the United States.

(a) The following transactions are prohibited by § 515.201 when in connection with the transportation of any Cuban national, except a Cuban national holding an unexpired immigrant or non-immigrant visa or a returning resident of the United States, from Cuba to the United States, unless otherwise licensed:

(1) Transactions incident to travel to, from, or within Cuba;

(2) The transportation to Cuba of a vessel or aircraft;

(3) The transportation into the United States of any vessel or aircraft which has been in Cuba since the effective date, regardless of registry;

(4) The provision of any services to a Cuban national, regardless of whether any consideration for such services is furnished by the Cuban national;

(5) The transportation or importation of baggage or other property of a Cuban national;

(6) The transfer of funds or other property to any person where such transfer involves the provision of services to a Cuban national or the transportation or importation of, or any transactions involving, property in which Cuba or any Cuban national has any interest, including baggage or other such property;

(7) Any other transaction such as payment of port fees and charges in Cuba and payment for fuel, meals, lodging; and

(8) The receipt or acceptance of any gratuity, grant, or support in the form of meals, lodging, fuel, payments of travel or maintenance expenses, or otherwise, in connection with travel to or from Cuba or travel or maintenance within Cuba.

(b) Transactions incident to the travel to the United States of Cuban nationals who are traveling other than in a non-immigrant status or pursuant to other non-immigrant travel authorization issued by the U.S. government are not authorized under the provisions of § 515.571.

(c) Transactions described in paragraph (a) of this section are not “transactions ordinarily incident to travel to and from Cuba” as set forth in § 515.560(c).

The prohibition on dealing in property in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest set forth in § 515.201(b)(1) includes a prohibition on the receipt of goods or services in Cuba, even if provided free-of-charge by the Government of Cuba or a national of Cuba or paid for by a third-country national who is not subject to U.S. jurisdiction. The prohibition set forth in § 515.201(b)(1) also prohibits payment for air travel by a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction to Cuba on a third-country carrier unless the travel is pursuant to an OFAC general or specific license.

(a) Any transaction ordinarily incident to a licensed transaction and necessary to give effect thereto is also authorized, except:

(1) A transaction by or with a prohibited official of the Government of Cuba, as defined in § 515.337, or a prohibited member of the Cuban Communist Party, as defined in § 515.338, where the terms of the applicable general or specific license expressly exclude transactions with such persons;

(2) A transaction involving a debit to a blocked account or a transfer of blocked property that is not explicitly authorized within the terms of the license;

(3) A transaction prohibited by § 515.208;

(4) In the case of export or reexport-related transactions authorized by § 515.533(a), payment or financing that is not authorized by § 515.533 or § 515.584(f);

(5) A direct financial transaction prohibited by § 515.209, where the terms of the applicable general or specific license expressly exclude such a transaction;

(6) Lodging, paying for lodging, or making any reservation for or on behalf of a third party to lodge, at any property on the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List to the extent prohibited by § 515.210, where the terms of the applicable general or specific license expressly exclude such a transaction; or

(7) A transaction relating to the collection, forwarding, or receipt of remittances involving any entity or subentity identified on the Cuba Restricted List, as published in the Federal Register and maintained by the State Department and available at https://www.state.gov/cuba-sanctions/cuba-restricted-list/, where the terms of the applicable general or specific license expressly exclude any such transactions.

(b) Examples. (1) A specific license authorizing a person to complete a securities sale involving Cuban Company A, whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this part, also authorizes other persons to engage in activities that are ordinarily incident and necessary to complete the sale, including transactions by the buyer, broker, transfer agents, and banks.

(2) A general license authorizing a person to import certain goods from independent Cuban entrepreneurs also authorizes funds transfers or payments that are ordinarily incident to the importation, including payments made using online payment platforms.