Kent Nishimura | Getty ImagesU.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters that European banks face growing risks operating in Russia and the U.S. is looking at strengthening its secondary sanctions on banks found to be aiding transactions for Russia's war effort.
"We are looking at potentially a tougher stepping-up of our sanctions on banks that do business in Russia," Yellen told Reuters in an interview, declining to provide specifics and not identifying any banks at which they could be aimed.
Speaking on the sidelines of a G7 finance leaders meeting in northern Italy, Yellen said that sanctions related to banks' dealings in Russia would only be imposed "if there was a reason to do so, but operating in Russia creates an awful lot of risk," she added.
European Central Bank policymaker Fabio Panetta had clear instructions for Italian banks on Saturday telling reporters that lenders must "get out" of Russia because staying in the country brings a "reputational problem."
Raiffeisen is the largest European lender doing business in Russia, followed by UniCredit.
Persons:
Janet Yellen, Kent Nishimura, Yellen, Central Bank policymaker Fabio Panetta, Joe Biden's
Organizations:
Treasury Department, Getty, Treasury, Reuters, Bank International, Central Bank, UniCredit, United Arab
Locations:
Washington , DC, Russia, U.S, Italy, Ukraine, China, United Arab Emirates, Turkey