OFAC fines Airbnb subsidiary for Cuba ‘Stays’ and ‘Experiences’

The US Treasury’s Office of Financial Assets Control (‘OFAC’) has fined a subsidiary of the online accommodation service platform Airbnb for apparent violations of Cuba sanctions.

In a web notice, OFAC explained that Airbnb Payments ‘has agreed to remit $91,172.29 to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of sanctions against Cuba…This activity included payments related to guests traveling for reasons outside of OFAC’s authorized categories as well as a failure to keep certain required records associated with Cuba-related transactions. The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s determination that Airbnb Payments’ apparent violations were voluntarily self-disclosed and were non-egregious.’

OFAC said that Airbnb Payments had conducted a review of transactions involving Cuba and found that it had processed payments relating to 3,464 ‘Stays’ transactions by Airbnb, Inc., for ‘“Guests” traveling for reasons outside of OFAC’s 12 authorized categories’, with an average value of around $140.

It said that Airbnb Payments also processed payments relating to 3,076 extrapolated ‘Experiences’ transactions, with an average value of $78.40, ‘where Airbnb Payments failed to keep records in accordance with the OFAC’s regulations.’

The notice explained that the apparent violations occurred ‘primarily because Airbnb, Inc. launched its Cuba business in April 2015, which would eventually extend to a global customer base, without fully addressing the complexities of operating a Cuba-related sanctions compliance program for internet-based travel services.’

OFAC said that, as Airbnb, Inc. launched its services in Cuba following regulatory changes announced by the US government in January 2015, ‘the scaling up of its services in Cuba appears to have outpaced the company’s ability to manage the associated sanctions risks via its technology platforms.’

https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/126/20220103_abnb.pdf