Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) his Cuban counterpart and (c) his counterpart in the US Administration on banking measures to support British businesses in Cuba.

​The UK is aware that banking challenges remain an issue for British companies interested in doing business in Cuba; the low risk appetite of banks continue to be influenced by risks associated with potential enforcement of the US embargo and Cuban compliance standards. The Chancellor and the Secretary of State for International Trade discussed the banking challenges faced by British companies with senior Cuban officials, during the President's visit to the UK in November 2018. The UK raises its opposition to the embargo and potential further tightening of it with US counterparts regularly, including via two recent EU demarches in Washington.