Airbnb launched its Cuba business in 2015.
Photo: lionel bonaventure/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The payment subsidiary of vacation rental company Airbnb Inc. has agreed to settle allegations it violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba, the Treasury Department said Monday.
Airbnb Payments Inc. allegedly processed payments associated with guests traveling to Cuba for reasons outside of categories authorized by the U.S. government and failed to keep certain required records for Cuba-related transactions, according to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which implements and enforces U.S. sanctions. Airbnb Payments has agreed to remit more than $91,000 as part of the settlement.
The Trump administration increased economic pressure on Cuba, reversing a shift under President Obama to a more open stance toward the nation that had led to an increase in travel between the two countries. Under President Biden, the U.S. continues to have broad sanctions on Cuba.
“Airbnb operates in more than 220 countries and regions around the world and we take sanctions compliance very seriously. We are pleased to have reached this agreement with OFAC,” Christopher Nulty, a spokesman for Airbnb, said in an email.
San Francisco-based Airbnb disclosed in its initial public offering documents in 2020 that it had made voluntary disclosures to the Treasury about its compliance efforts and certain user activity on its platform that may have been at odds with requirements under U.S. sanctions laws, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. The company said at the time it had conducted an internal review, including of its business in Cuba, and had submitted the results to OFAC that September.
Airbnb launched its Cuba business in April 2015 following regulatory changes announced by the U.S. government three months earlier, but the company failed to fully address the complexities of operating a Cuba-related sanctions program for internet-based travel services, OFAC said in the settlement agreement. OFAC alleged the rapid growth of Airbnb’s services in Cuba outpaced its ability to manage the sanctions-related risks through its technology systems, among other issues.
OFAC acknowledged the violations were discovered after Airbnb Payments proactively initiated a comprehensive review of its sanctions compliance program, according to the agreement. Airbnb Payments also implemented remedial measures to strengthen its sanctions compliance program and fully cooperated with OFAC, according to the agreement.
Write to Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com
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