Those in favor of normalized relations with Cuba have held out hope that a bank in Florida — the state with the largest Cuban-American population in the U.S. — would agree to service the island nation’s bank accounts when others won’t.
Continued regular air travel between the U.S. and Cuba may hang in the balance.
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House Bill 673, sponsored by Milton Republican Rep. Doug Broxson, includes a number of changes in financial regulations, one of which would require Florida banks doing business with those suspected of supporting terrorism to file the same reports with the state as they already are required to do on a federal level.
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“Banks were afraid of doing business with Cuba before this bill was proposed because of the federal regulations and fines,” said Bill Hauf, president of Island Travel & Tours, whose flights serve Tampa and Havana. “Now that the state is also involved, adding another level of bureaucracy and oversight, there is no way a state bank will want to be involved.”
