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In Rise of Russia’s Oligarchy, a History of Captured Banks and Covered Tracks, Says Author
printAt its highest levels, Russian corruption over the past 20 years has been disguised by networks of shell companies and facilitated by foreign banks willing to turn a blind eye to state embezzlement, according to Karen Dawisha, a political science professor at Ohio-based Miami University. "The golden list of Wall Street bankers, all of them were there," said Dawisha, in a recent interview with ACAMS moneylaundering.com. Today, some of the same individuals targeted by sanctions for their alleged role in destabilizing Ukraine were among those funneling looted funds out of the country more than 15 years ago through shell companies,...
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Although the grandson of a former head of the Communist Party USA, Bill Browder isn't exactly beloved by Russian officials, even those professing nostalgia for the Soviet Union's supposedly golden days.
U.S. and European officials are developing a coordinated response to recent attacks on Ukrainian civilians and could announce additional sanctions against Russia as early as this week.
In the messy art of prognostication, everything is overly easy and nothing exact, not even compliance expectations. But one thing government officials and financial industry representatives seem certain of: 2015 will prove just as challenging as the past year for AML professionals.
Whatever the effectiveness of sanctions meant to sway Russia's involvement in Ukraine, one thing is certain: they've worsened the country's capital flight problem. By year's end, approximately $128 billion will have moved abroad, up from $63 billion in 2013, according to Russia's central bank.
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday unanimously approved a bill that would clear the way for sanctions against foreign banks that transact on behalf of Russia's defense and energy businesses.
European lawmakers in a resolution Thursday asked the EU's executive branch to consider barring Russian banks from the world's largest interbank messaging platform in response to violence in Ukraine.
The expansion of Western sanctions targeting Russia will require banks to closely vet additional types of credit and transactions tied to financial, energy and defense firms, according to attorneys.
The EU on Monday adopted extended sanctions targeting Moscow's oil and defense industries' measures expected to raise compliance costs for banks in the economic bloc, once implemented.
Military clashes in Ukraine are complicating behind-the-scenes efforts by some EU nations to prevent new sanctions and roll back existing financial restrictions targeting Russia.
The European Union Tuesday further restricted Russia's access to the continent's financial markets and energy technology industry and promised targeted sanctions against individuals and entities on Wednesday.
With the blacklisting of three Russian financial institutions Tuesday, the United States has targeted nearly a third of the assets controlled by the federation's banking sector, according to a senior U.S. official.
The U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday imposed its strongest sanctions to date in response to Russia's role in Ukrainian violence, blacklisting 12 companies in the federation's financial, energy and defense sectors.
U.S. officials are preparing to press their EU counterparts on stronger Russia sanctions ahead of a European Council meeting next week, State Department representatives told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday.
Threatened U.S. sanctions against large swathes of Russian businesses would likely target defense and financial firms ahead of energy companies if imposed, according to experts.
The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday blacklisted a Moscow-based financial institution and its chairman for their alleged roles in facilitating transactions for the Central Bank of Syria and a state-owned oil company.
U.S. officials have no plans to negotiate Russia's compliance with an anti-tax evasion law that takes effect this summer and could impose stiff monetary penalties on nonparticipating financial institutions.
U.S. sanctions against 17 Russian individuals and companies, including three banks and the head of one of the nation's largest energy companies, will raise more questions than answers for compliance officers.
Although sanctions on Russian nationals and companies might seem fairly innocuous at first blush, compliance departments at European banks are finding the task of identifying designees unusually difficult, say legal experts.
Plans by Russia to develop an independent payment network could limit the U.S. government's window into illicit finance in the federation, say analysts.