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US set to stop Raiffeisen Bank and other banks from operating in Russia...
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned German and other European banks that if they do not comply with sanctions against Russia, they will face US sanctions themselves. She warned that access to dollars could be blocked.
Yellen told a meeting in Frankfurt with bankers that the Treasury's warnings have helped curb Russia's efforts to buy goods needed for its war in Ukraine, but more work is needed.
" Russia continues to procure sensitive goods and expand its ability to domestically manufacture these goods. We must be vigilant and more ambitious. I call on all institutions here to take increased measures and increase your focus on Russian evasion efforts ," Yellen said in prepared remarks for the meeting in Frankfurt.
In an unusually direct warning, she told executives to check their bank branches and subsidiaries and contact foreign correspondent banking customers to do the same, especially in high-risk jurisdictions.
" We must remain vigilant to prevent the Kremlin's ability to supply its defense industrial base and access our financial systems ," she said.
Yellen's warning comes shortly after the US Treasury pressured Austria's Raiffeisen Bank, Russia's biggest western bank, to back out of a deal involving a Russian tycoon.
Raiffeisen was warned by the US Treasury in writing that its access to the US financial system could be restricted because of its relations with Russia.
On May 6, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo sent a letter to the RBI, expressing concern about its presence in Russia. The announcement followed weeks of pressure over its plan to buy a stake in construction group Strabag, a move designed to unlock bank funds frozen in Russia.
And a senior US Treasury official acknowledged that Western banks face "significant constraints" on exiting Russia, but they should not seek to expand their Russian businesses as Raiffeisen has done. The official added that Austrian regulators should take a more aggressive stance to avoid reputational risks for a systemic institution.
"The simple fact of existing secondary sanctions already leads us to our goals in some ways," the official said on condition of anonymity.
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