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Treasury heightens sanctions on Russia amid continued attacks on Ukraine
In response to Russia’s continued brutal war against Ukraine, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Wednesday announced additional steps to demean the economy of the Russian Federation, imposing full blocking sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest state-owned bank, and Alfa-Bank, Russia’s largest private bank.
In addition, Treasury also decided to target the family members of President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and other Russian Security Council members who are complicit in the war. Of note, President Biden issued new Executive Order banning new investment in the Russian Federation and the provision of certain services to any person located in the Russian Federation by U.S. citizens.
“Russia’s military forces have committed heinous atrocities in Ukraine and the global community must hold them to account,” stated Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. “Today we are taking additional steps to cut off Russia from international markets in response to Putin’s continued brutality. This serious action, including fully blocking Russia’s largest bank and banning new investment in Russia, will further restrict Putin’s ability to fund and supply his war.”
NAFCU will continue to keep credit unions updated as the situation evolves. The association recently posted a compliance blog that covers the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia and its impact on credit unions, and encourages credit unions to review the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions page and the Ukraine-Russia-Related Sanctions page for the most up-to-date information.