Javier A. Lopez and Evan Stroman of Kozyak Tropin and Throckmorton in Coral Gables have brought a $792 million federal lawsuit against a French investment bank, accusing it of profiting from a Cuban bank that Fidel Castro's government expropriated from the plaintiffs in the 1960s.

The lawsuit falls under the Helms-Burton Act, enacted in 1996 by President Bill Clinton to allow U.S. citizens to sue over alleged trafficking of confiscated property after the Cuban revolution in 1959. But the statute never went into effect, as Clinton's successors continually suspended it—until May 2, when President Donald Trump lifted the ban.

A handful of complaints have been filed so far, but this in the first Helms-Burton lawsuit against a financial institution, French investment bank Societe Generale S.A., doing business as Societe General Americas. The bank has main offices in Paris and New York, according to the lawsuit.

The European Union has said it will use its Blocking Statute to push back against the enforcement of U.S. Helms-Burton Act judgments affecting EU companies.

Things could get interesting, according to Lopez.

“It's exciting and also risky, because it is truly a novel area of the law,” Lopez said. “There has never been any case law decided on this, so we're literally making law as we go.”

Related story: Miami Law Firm Targets Trivago in Helms-Burton Lawsuit

The plaintiffs' grandparents founded Banco Nunez, which became the second largest Cuban bank in 1958, according to the complaint in the Southern District of Florida. It had 22 branches across the country, equity of $7.8 million and controlled $105.1 million in assets, according to the suit.

The Helms-Burton Act allows plaintiffs to seek treble damages and to add 6% interest per annum on the original $7.8 million, for a total $792 million.

When Castro's Communist regime nationalized Cuba's industry and businesses, Banco Nunez became part of the government's central bank, Banco Nacional de Cuba, where it remains today.

Defendant Societe General provided various credit facilities to the Banco Nacional de Cuba between 2000 and 2010, profiting from fees on wire transfers and interest on loans, according to the complaint.

Defense counsel Alex C. Lakatos of Mayer Brown in Washington, D.C., did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. But Societe Generale's head of media relations Antoine Lheritier said in an emailed statement, ”SG believes this litigation is without merit and intends to defend itself vigorously.”

In 2018, Societe Generale was prosecuted in the Southern District of New York under the Trading With the Enemy Act, for violating an economic embargo on Cuba. The bank accepted responsibility and agreed to pay a $1.3 billion penalty.

Lopez and Stroman say there's no way to tell how long the window for filing Helms-Burton lawsuits could stay open, as the Trump administration could technically suspend the statute again at any moment. But once a lawsuit has been filed, it will stand even if the statute doesn't.

The way Stroman sees it, this case is unique in that it aims to reduce the Cuban government's ability to work with financial institutions, with the goal of encouraging a transition from dictatorship to democratic society.

“It has a wide-ranging effect that should hopefully eventually bring about democratic elections in Cuba,” Stroman said.

Lopez and Stroman have sent out 30-day notice letters to three other banks, alleging similar claims. Lopez said he hopes this is the catalyst to hard-hitting legal action down the line.

“The day to sue the Cuban government directly has not come yet,” he said. “I'm confident that one day that is going to have to be dealt with head on, but that's not today.”

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