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☆ U.S. Treasury to crack down on Russian sanctions evasion - Adeyemo
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department will focus in coming months on cracking down on facilitators and third-country providers helping Russia evade Western sanctions, Treasury said on Friday. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told a meeting of academics and other experts on sanctions and U.S. foreign policy that Treasury will increase its focus on countering sanctions evasion, including by those who may "wittingly or unwittingly" help Russia replenish supplies needed for its military fighting in Ukraine. Treasury provided no immediate details on which "facilitators and third-party providers" would be targeted. The Treasury earlier this month imposed sanctions on 22 individuals and entities in multiple countries that it accused of being tied to a global sanctions evasion network supporting Russia's military-industrial complex. Reporting by Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Sanctions Nine Companies for Moving Iranian Oil Products
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned nine companies for allegedly helping move Iranian petroleum products and petrochemicals valued at hundreds of millions of dollars to buyers in Asia via a previously sanctioned Hong Kong company. Three companies in Malaysia and Singapore are among those facing sanctions, Treasury said Thursday. The companies were allegedly involved in the sale and shipment of products on behalf of Triliance Petrochemical Co., a Hong Kong-based broker that was added to the sanctions list in 2020. “Iran [is] increasingly turning to buyers in East Asia to sell its petrochemical and petroleum products, in violation of U.S. sanctions,” said Brian E. Nelson, a Treasury undersecretary. Officials are considering new sanctions on Chinese surveillance companies over sales to Iran’s security forces.

☆ Crypto exchange Kraken to end staking service, pay fine in U.S. SEC settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Those providers should register their staking services with the SEC, Gensler added. Owners of crypto assets that use a "proof-of-stake" blockchain can stake some of their assets to potentially take part in the process of validating transactions. In exchange for their work, validators are often rewarded with newly created crypto assets. Kraken offers its customers the ability to "stake" certain crypto tokens in order to earn rewards. The settlement comes a year after a subsidiary of crypto company BlockFi Inc agreed to pay $100 million to the SEC and 32 states to settle charges in connection with a retail crypto lending product the company offered to nearly 600,000 investors.

☆ U.S. imposes sanctions on MS-13 gang members in Nicaragua, Honduras
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday on two members of the international criminal gang MS-13, accusing them of involvement in drug trafficking and murder in Central America and the United States. The sanctions against the two individuals -- an MS-13 leader in Honduras and an associate with the gang in Nicaragua -- are part of a broader U.S. government effort to disrupt the group's activities and financing, the department said in a statement. "Treasury's sanctions against MS-13 aim to interrupt its use of the financial system to launder illicit proceeds," department official Brian E. Nelson said. The leader in Honduras, Archaga Caria, has distributed cocaine from that country to the United States, and has ordered the murders of rival gang members, the department said. The MS-13 associate, Campbell Licona, used businesses the gang owned or controlled to launder drug proceeds, including through U.S. banks, the department said.

☆ Crypto exchange Kraken under scrutiny for sale of unregistered securities- Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the sale of unregistered securities, according to a Bloomberg report. Kraken declined to comment on the report. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has previously said that companies that help facilitate transactions in the crypto market should register with the agency just like other market intermediaries. Kraken's incoming chief executive officer told Reuters in September that the exchange had no plans to register with the SEC as a market intermediary, or to delist crypto tokens that the regulator has labeled as securities. Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Treasury urges financial firms to examine cloud services
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said while "there is no question that providing consumers with secure and reliable financial services means greater demand for cloud-based technologies,” there needed to be "safe and effective migration" as banks and other financial companies adopt cloud services. "Treasury found that cloud services could help financial institutions become more resilient and secure, but that there were some significant challenges that could detract from these benefits," department officials wrote in their report assessing current cloud adoption in the financial industry. Those issues include financial firms' exposure to potential cyber incidents, an industry-wide reliance on a small number of cloud providers and a lack of technology workers able to help financial institutions deploy cloud services, among other challenges, department officials said. Treasury officials recommended steps that could help the sector adopt cloud computing, adding that it "neither endorses nor discourages cloud service adoption by the sector." Technology companies that provide cloud computing services include Amazon Inc's (AMZN.O) Amazon Web Services, Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Oracle Corp (ORCL.N).

☆ U.S. to Remove Sanctions on Former Kazakhstan Subsidiary of Russia’s Sberbank
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. Treasury Department said it would remove sanctions imposed on a former Kazakhstan subsidiary of Russia’s Sberbank because the entity is now wholly owned by a Kazakh company. The entity, previously called Subsidiary Bank Sberbank of Russia Joint Stock Co., is a commercial bank in Kazakhstan and was sanctioned as a foreign subsidiary of Sberbank last February, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The unusual step made by the U.S. to remove the former subsidiary from the sanctions list highlights the impact of sanctions on Russia as Sberbank was forced to divest itself of some assets. PREVIEWThe U.S. imposed sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, in an effort to cripple Russia’s economy, military and elites after Moscow’s Ukraine invasion. The former Sberbank subsidiary is one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan and is seen as systemically important to Kazakhstan’s financial sector, a Treasury spokesperson said.

☆ Prosecutors Charge Russian Who Managed Oligarch Viktor Vekselberg’s U.S. Properties
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

A U.S. permanent resident who managed Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg ‘s properties in Florida and New York has been charged with money laundering and sanctions evasion after fleeing the U.S., federal prosecutors said. Mr. Voronchenko, who was also charged with participating in an effort to sell two of Mr. Vekselberg’s properties, fled the U.S. in May after receiving a grand jury subpoena, prosecutors said. Mr. Vekselberg was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018. After Mr. Vekselberg was sanctioned, the source of the funds used to maintain the properties changed, prosecutors said. Mr. Voronchenko was served with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in May while on Fisher Island, prosecutors said.

☆ ABA Passes Resolution Opposing Suspicious-Transaction Reporting Rule for Lawyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The association also is considering changes to its professional conduct rules around the vetting of clients. The ABA’s rules for professional conduct are typically used as a basis for the rules enforced by state courts, which serve as primary regulators of the legal trade. Under current rules, lawyers have an ethical obligation to keep confidential all information relating to the representation of their clients. Requiring lawyers to report suspicious transactions by their clients also could undermine attorney-client privilege, the group argued in their resolution. Those committees are expected to file a resolution at the annual meeting of the ABA’s policy arm later this year.

☆ German ministry to review sale of regional airport to Russian investor - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The insolvency administrator for Frankfurt-Hahn airport, in western Germany, said the investor and seller had decided to submit a purchase contract to the economy ministry, which has the power to block some takeovers by foreign players. A source close to the proceedings confirmed local media reports that the successful, and highest, offer came from NR Holding, which belongs to Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin. The federal economy ministry can block takeovers of critical infrastructure by firms outside the European Union. Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday that his ministry had launched a routine screening of the process. It had 1.23 million passengers between January and November last year, less than half the number a decade ago.

In 2021, banks reported nearly 250,000 cases of check fraud nationwide, according to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a unit of the U.S. Treasury Department. By last year, that number exploded: nearly 460,000 check fraud cases were reported – an increase of 84%. "Check fraud, and perhaps fraud in general flourishes on Telegram mainly due to its unrestrictive nature," Noriega said. Even so, Q6 was able to find at least 30 channels on Telegram dedicated to providing the latest tips and techniques to commit bank fraud. "Telegram is unfortunately a source for all things check fraud," Noriega said.

☆ U.S. warned Turkey on exports seen to boost Russia's war effort, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Jonathan Spicer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brian Nelson, the U.S. Treasury Department's top sanctions official, visited Turkish government and private sector officials on Thursday and Friday to urge more cooperation in disrupting the flow of such goods. "There is no surprise...that Russia is actively looking to leverage the historic economic ties it has in Turkey," the official said. NATO member Ankara opposes the sweeping sanctions on Russia on principle but says they will not be circumvented in Turkey, urging the West to provide any evidence. At least $777 million of these products were made by Western firms whose chips have been found in Russian weapons systems. Nelson also visited the United Arab Emirates and Oman to reiterate that Washington will continue aggressively enforcing its sanctions, the Treasury said last week.

☆ Caribbean Seeks Venezuela’s Oil and Gas as U.S. Relaxes Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Patricia Garip | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Production has plummeted at Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA, which operates these facilities on Lake Maracaibo. Caribbean countries battered by high energy costs are turning to Venezuela for oil and gas as the U.S. eases sanctions that have kept its supplies off limits for years. Trinidad and Tobago received a U.S. Treasury Department license in January to develop a Venezuelan gas field. A prospective refinery operator in Curaçao is seeking to buy Venezuelan crude oil. And officials on other islands have said they hope to restore Venezuelan fuel imports.

☆ Latvia says traders use Turkey, Kazakhstan, Armenia to dodge Russia sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VILNIUS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Traders are using Turkey, Kazakhstan and Armenia to evade European Union sanctions on Russia in a tactic that breaches these countries' compliance with the bloc's embargo, Latvia's prime minister said on Friday. Krisjanis Karins made the assertion following talks with counterparts from fellow EU members Estonia and Lithuania, which along with Latvia have been among most vocal supporters of sanctions on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "It seems quite clear that traders are finding ways to legally trade goods, say with Turkey, Kazakhstan or Armenia which are then resent to Russia, because these countries are not adhering to the sanctions regime", Karins told reporters in the Estonian capital Tallinn. There was no immediate response from the foreign ministries of Turkey and Kazakhstan to requests for comment on the remarks by Karins. At the same time, it opposes Western sanctions on Russia and has close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv, its Black Sea neighbours.

☆ U.S. Treasury makes more Tesla, Ford, GM EVs eligible for tax credits
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The move is a win for Tesla, GM, Ford and other automakers which had pressed the Biden administration to change the vehicle definitions. The decision raises the retail price cap to $80,000 from $55,000 for GM's Cadillac Lyriq, Tesla's five-seat Model Y, Volkswagen's ID.4, the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Escape Plug-in Hybrid. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted last month the EV tax rules were "messed up." The five-seat version of the Tesla Model Y is not considered an SUV, while the Model Y seven-seat version is and can qualify for the credit. The Treasury said the revised definition will apply to all buyers of EVs since Jan. 1.

Experts estimate that about half of the German electric vehicles registered in the United States are leased. While the scale of the U.S. subsidies has attracted most attention, the EU has large potential resources of its own. THE REAL PROBLEM"The amounts of subsidies in Europe are in line or even more than those in the United States, that is not the problem," said one senior European Union official. "The real problems are the incentives to make firms move production to the United States," said the official, referring to the local content requirements. To ensure Europe can compete with the United States, the European Commission on Wednesday proposed measures including loosening EU state aid rules and repurposing existing EU funds.

☆ Explainer: Why the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act has rattled Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The European Commission presented its Green Deal Industrial Plan on Wednesday in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with increased levels of state aid to help Europe compete as a manufacturing hub for clean tech products. The Treasury is set to provide guidelines in March for electric vehicles bought by consumers, but there appears less room for manoeuvre. The European Commission and the White House have set up a high-level task force to discuss the issue. France has led calls for Europe to respond with state support of its own for European companies, including through a "buy European act" and large-scale subsidies. Longer term, the European Commission says it will propose a European Sovereignty Fund, but it is unclear how it will operate and how it will be funded.

☆ U.S. targets global sanctions evasion network supporting Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 22 individuals and entities in multiple countries that it accused of being tied to a global sanctions evasion network supporting Russia's military-industrial complex. The action targeted a sanctions evasion network that the Treasury said is led by Russia and Cyprus-based arms dealer Igor Zimenkov, who, along with his son, Jonatan, were hit with sanctions on Wednesday. The network has engaged in projects connected to Russian defense capabilities, including supplying high-technology devices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Treasury said. Washington also accused certain members of the network of supporting state-owned Russian defense entities under sanctions. GBD Limited, another company in the network targeted in the sanctions, has attempted to supply weapons systems to an African government, Treasury said.

At the same time, it opposes Western sanctions on Russia and has close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv, its Black Sea neighbors. But Ankara has pledged that international sanctions will not be circumvented in Turkey. Washington is also concerned about evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iran. While in the United Arab Emirates, Nelson will note the "poor sanctions compliance" in the country, the spokesperson said. Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk Editing by Don Durfee and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] The American flag flies over the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2023. But Ankara has pledged that international sanctions will not be circumvented in Turkey. Washington is also concerned about evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iran. While in the United Arab Emirates, Nelson will note the "poor sanctions compliance" in the country, the spokesperson said. In Oman, Nelson will meet with counterparts to discuss cooperation on countering illicit finance, including terrorist financing, the department said.

☆ Wagner Group Designated by U.S. as Transnational Criminal Group
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. took action Thursday against Russian private military group Wagner Group, designating it as a significant transnational criminal organization over its actions in combat operations in Ukraine on behalf of President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. Treasury Department said Wagner Group personnel also are involved in alleged ongoing criminal activity, including mass executions, rape and physical abuse in the Central African Republic and Mali. Thursday’s sanctions come after the White House said last Friday it would designate the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organization. The Wagner Group has already been sanctioned by Canada, Australia, Japan, the U.K. and the European Union. Representatives for Wagner Group didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ U.S. Warns Banks to Watch for Russian Oligarchs Investing in Commercial Real Estate
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Banks should be on alert for Russian oligarchs attempting to circumvent U.S. sanctions by investing in commercial real estate, a U.S. Treasury Department watchdog said. Sanctioned individuals may try to use pooled investment vehicles or offshore funds to avoid due-diligence processes, FinCEN said in its alert. Sanctioned individuals could keep lowering their stakes to avoid detection, while still maintaining control of the fund, FinCEN said. Sanctioned individuals aren’t just investing in high-end or luxury properties, according to the alert. Federal prosecutors have warned that lawyers, consultants and other service providers who work for sanctioned individuals could run afoul of the law.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday stepped up sanctions against the Wagner Group, labeling the Russian mercenary company fighting in Ukraine as a transnational criminal organization responsible for widespread human rights abuses. The U.S. Treasury Department, as part of action targeting dozens of people and entities in an effort to degrade Russia's ability to wage the war, said it designated Wagner Group as a "significant transnational criminal organization" on Thursday. It had previously designated Wagner under its Russia and Ukraine sanctions programs. "These images were gathered in order to enable Wagner combat operations in Ukraine," Treasury said. He said the United States assesses Wagner has about 50,000 personnel deployed to Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts recruited from Russian prisons.

☆ Fewer Treasury bills and liquidity questions – what to expect from the U.S. refunding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Karen Brettell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department next week is likely to announce that it will offer fewer Treasury bills in the second quarter, after hitting its statutory borrowing limit. Next week, the Treasury is likely to say that it will reduce its issuance of Treasury bills, debt that matures in one year or less, and run down its cash balance to buy more time. That is because the U.S. government wants to increase bills as a percentage of overall debt to meet its long-term goals. BofA’s Swiber said that Treasury buybacks, which the Treasury queried dealers about in a previous survey, are a better solution to boost liquidity during times of market stress. These “allow Treasury to more directly manage Treasury liquidity, to more directly manage the outstanding supply of securities and they can effectively buy back things that are cheap on the curve and help support liquidity in the more liquid parts of the curve as well,” she said.

☆ Trinidad offers to pay for Venezuelan gas with humanitarian supplies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Curtis Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday issued a license allowing Trinidad to co-develop the Dragon gas field, which holds 4.2 trillion cubic feet of reserves on the Venezuelan side of the maritime border with Trinidad. The project would have Trinidad import the gas and turn it into exportable liquefied natural gas (LNG). So we buy the gas and we pay for it in a variety of ways," Rowley told journalists late on Tuesday. Venezuela has resorted to swaps to make its economy work amid stiff U.S. sanctions prohibiting financial transactions or the use of dollars to pay Venezuela or the country's state companies. Shell (SHEL.L), which operates the neighboring Hibiscus field in Trinidad, ideally could become the operator, said Trinidad's Rowley.

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