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.
At 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.
Two new approaches to sanctions targeting Russia are unlikely to be the last innovations to how the United States leverages its financial power, even if such restrictions strain compliance departments.
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.
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.
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.