ZURICH (Reuters) – Clients of Swiss bank PostFinance living in Cuba have in recent weeks received notifications that their accounts will be closed, Swiss public broadcaster SRF said on Friday, citing U.S. sanctions pressure on the Caribbean island.
SRF, which published what it said was a copy of a letter sent in March to one of the affected clients, did not explicitly state why the closures were ordered or how many customers were affected. But it said that PostFinance was systematically giving notice to customers with ties to Cuba.
PostFinance said in response to a Reuters query that some of the SRF report drew on speculation and that any possible termination of business ties was carefully reviewed in advance.
“Due to bank-client confidentiality, we cannot comment on the specific reasons that ultimately led to the termination of individual business relationships,” the state-owned bank said.
SRF said the reason behind the steps was renewed tightening of U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba under U.S. President Donald Trump, without providing direct evidence.
In the letter the broadcaster published, the bank explained that the account concerned would be closed because the customer’s profile “does not match PostFinance’s business policy orientation.”
On January 20, the day he returned to office, Trump revoked the Biden administration’s last-minute decision to remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
PostFinance said international sanctions are subject to constant change and that sanctions against Cuba are not new, but have also evolved over time. Thus PostFinance has consistently adapted its internal policy on the matter, it added.
The U.S. embassy in Switzerland did not immediately reply to a request for comment by Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
