US Has 'Many' More Sanctions Options to Continue Targeting Russia, Treasury Official Says
The U.S. has sanctioned more than 2,500 Russia-related parties or entities, including over 80% of the country’s banking sector by assets, since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year, said Elizabeth Rosenberg, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes. But she said the administration can still do more to increase pressure on the Russian government.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
“There are many measures available to us to continue both combatting Russian attempts at circumvention and increasing the pressure generally,” Rosenberg said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists Assembly Conference Oct. 2. “But no one should think that we are anywhere near the end of our energy or creativity on this problem set.”
Rosenberg stressed the importance of companies maintaining sanctions compliance regimes, saying financial institutions in particular should have systems to “monitor, screen, and analyze trade and customs data to understand the underlying controlled goods their clients trade and correspondents facilitate.” But if banks continue to silo their anti-money laundering compliance and sanctions compliance departments, they may end up “unwittingly, or inadvertently, processing payments for controlled goods and involving designated entities,” Rosenberg said.