October 08, 2005
Congress Looks Into Swiss Bank/Cuba Dealings
From today's Miami Herald:
Bank dealings with Cuba under scrutiny
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced an investigation into a Swiss bank's dealings with Cuba. The same bank's handling of cash found in Iraq is also at issue.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@herald.com
WASHINGTON - A House subcommittee will investigate Cuba and Iran's dealings with the Swiss banking giant UBS in search of possible money laundering, Miami Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Friday.
The Cuban-American Republican made the announcement after a meeting Thursday with UBS Vice President Bob Gramm, a former Texas senator, produced no new information on the bank's deals with Cuba.
''It was more of the same, more delays, more unkept promises,'' she said.
SUBPOENA POWER
Ros-Lehtinen said the investigation will be carried out by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which has the power to subpoena bank documents. The subcommittee is part of the House International Relations Committee.
UBS was already fined $100 million in May of 2004 for violating an agreement with the U.S. Federal Reserve that allowed UBS clients -- except countries under U.S. sanctions -- to swap old dollar bills for new ones. Cuba funneled $3.9 billion through UBS between 1996 and 2003.
UBS spokeswoman Christina Walton said the Fed has ''never suggested or charged UBS with any actions . . . that had anything to do with money laundering.'' Cuba says the money was legitimately obtained, mostly through the tourism industry.
Walton said UBS no longer conducts any business with Cuban officials or residents in Cuba. ``We conduct our business in the U.S. in strict adherence to local laws, and in the U.S., UBS follows U.S. laws as they relate to Cuba.''
However, she added that UBS was a global institution that facilitated ''simple, third-party payment transactions on behalf of non-U.S. residents in Cuba. That is the business we are exiting.'' This includes remittances sent to the island by Cubans outside the United States, or payments to foreign businesses operating on the island.
CASH IN IRAQ
The subcommittee also will look into the origins of $762 million in U.S. cash that American troops in Iraq found in hide-outs linked to Saddam Hussein. The cash was traced to UBS and several other foreign banks.
Posted by Robert M at October 8, 2005 03:40 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.babalublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/hut.cgi/2346
Comments
The Swiss banking system has needed investigating for a long time - along with the Caymans, Panama and others.
Posted by: Jay at October 8, 2005 04:07 PM
3.9 billion and Cubans are still waiting for rice cookers, not to mention the rice.
Posted by: Kathleen at October 8, 2005 04:32 PM
There is no "former Texas senator" by the name of Bob Gramm.
Posted by: aelfheld at October 9, 2005 01:09 PM
