State Department · Friday, October 16, 2026
State Department sanctions Cuba’s BICSA bank
The File desk · Oct 16, 2026, 11:00 AM UTC
Status
Confirmed as Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement on Oct. 15, 2026, and as the text of Legal instrument It lets State and Treasury freeze U.S.-touching assets of foreign people tied to Cuba’s government or to energy, defense, mining, finance, or security work in Cuba, and can hit foreign banks that do significant business with those targets.Executive Order 14404 — Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba
- Confirmed
Rubio said he is sanctioning Cuban state-owned Banco Internacional de Comercio, S.A., under section 2(a)(i)(A) of
, for operating in Cuba’s financial services sector.Legal instrument
Executive Order 14404 — Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba
It lets State and Treasury freeze U.S.-touching assets of foreign people tied to Cuba’s government or to energy, defense, mining, finance, or security work in Cuba, and can hit foreign banks that do significant business with those targets.
- Confirmed
The department says BICSA has provided services to Iran’s Karafarin Bank since at least 2022, and that Treasury sanctioned Karafarin Bank under
in 2020.Legal instrument
Executive Order 13902 — Imposing Sanctions With Respect to Additional Sectors of Iran
Lets Treasury block property of people who operate in named Iranian economy sectors and can hit foreign banks that do significant business with those sectors.
- Confirmed
The order blocks property of designated persons that is in the United States or in the control of U.S. persons, and bars U.S. persons from dealing in it unless a license or exemption applies.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the United States is sanctioning Banco Internacional de Comercio, S.A., a Cuban state bank known as BICSA. He cited Legal instrument It lets State and Treasury freeze U.S.-touching assets of foreign people tied to Cuba’s government or to energy, defense, mining, finance, or security work in Cuba, and can hit foreign banks that do significant business with those targets.Executive Order 14404 — Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba
The statement is dated Oct. 15, 2026. Rubio said the step is in concert with a Treasury action on Iranian financial actors. This desk did not open a separate Treasury release for that same-day action.
Legal instrument It lets State and Treasury freeze U.S.-touching assets of foreign people tied to Cuba’s government or to energy, defense, mining, finance, or security work in Cuba, and can hit foreign banks that do significant business with those targets.Executive Order 14404 — Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba
The State Department says the result is that all property and interests of the designated person in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Entities owned 50 percent or more by blocked persons are blocked too. U.S. persons may not deal in that property unless the dealing is authorized or exempt. The department says foreign persons who deal with designated parties, or who operate in those Cuban sectors, can themselves face sanctions.
The statement also says the steps further Legal instrument The State Department’s Oct. 15, 2026 release titles this order “Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of Cuba” and says the BICSA sanctions further it. This desk did not open the order text. State Department release, Oct. 15, 2026; the order text was not opened Legal instrument The State Department says this memorandum directs the executive branch to improve human rights, encourage the rule of law, foster free markets and free enterprise, and promote democracy in Cuba. This desk did not open the memorandum. State Department release, Oct. 15, 2026; the memorandum was not openedExecutive Order 14380
National Security Presidential Memorandum 5
The department says the point of sanctions is a change in behavior, and that people may ask to be removed from the Specially Designated Nationals list.
What is still unknown or disputed
- A separate Treasury press release for the same-day Iranian financial action was not opened. The BICSA designation is the State Department statement.
- The texts of and
Legal instrument
Executive Order 14380
The State Department’s Oct. 15, 2026 release titles this order “Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of Cuba” and says the BICSA sanctions further it. This desk did not open the order text.
State Department release, Oct. 15, 2026; the order text was not opened
were not opened. What this story says about them is the sentence in the State Department release.Legal instrument
National Security Presidential Memorandum 5
The State Department says this memorandum directs the executive branch to improve human rights, encourage the rule of law, foster free markets and free enterprise, and promote democracy in Cuba. This desk did not open the memorandum.
State Department release, Oct. 15, 2026; the memorandum was not opened
- This desk did not check the Specially Designated Nationals list entry line by line.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
Sanctioning Cuban state-owned Banco Internacional de Comercio, S.A. (BICSA)
U.S. Department of State · October 15, 2026
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he is sanctioning Cuban state-owned BICSA pursuant to section 2(a)(i)(A) of
for operating in the financial services sector of the Cuban economy. The department says BICSA has provided services to Iran’s Karafarin Bank since at least 2022, and that Treasury sanctioned Karafarin Bank underLegal instrument
Executive Order 14404 — Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba
It lets State and Treasury freeze U.S.-touching assets of foreign people tied to Cuba’s government or to energy, defense, mining, finance, or security work in Cuba, and can hit foreign banks that do significant business with those targets.
in 2020.Legal instrument
Executive Order 13902 — Imposing Sanctions With Respect to Additional Sectors of Iran
Lets Treasury block property of people who operate in named Iranian economy sectors and can hit foreign banks that do significant business with those sectors.
https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/10/sanctioning-cuban-state-owned-banco-internacional-de-comercio-s-a-bicsa/
Source 2
Executive Order 14404 of May 1, 2026
Federal Register · May 7, 2026
Section 2(a)(i)(A) blocks property of a foreign person determined to operate in the energy, defense and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sector of the Cuban economy. The text this desk read is the Federal Register full-text file for document 2026-09173.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/07/2026-09173/imposing-sanctions-on-those-responsible-for-repression-in-cuba-and-for-threats-to-united-states