U.S. senators are putting constant pressure on a big number of the world’s largest financial institutions to reveal any ties between their companies and wealthy Russians affiliated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a letter published on Tuesday, CNBC informed.
Two Democratic senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Sheldon Whitehouse, have written to the banks, hoping to put higher pressure not just on individuals on the U.S. Treasury’s so-called “oligarchs list,” but also on financial institutions to thoroughly consider those with whom they do business as Washington moves to introduce fresh sanctions on Moscow.
The Trump administration announced sanctions on Russia on April 6, largely responding to what U.S. intelligence agencies have said was Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, although Treasury painted them as a response to a series of adversarial actions by Moscow.
Russia denies meddling in the election. The letter was sent to three large U.S. banks — Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank — as well as Europe-based Barclays, Deutsche Bank , UBS, HSBC and Credit Suisse.
As part of sweeping sanctions legislation President Donald Trump signed into law in August, the U.S. Congress required Treasury to create a list of wealthy Russians — the “oligarchs” — with links to the government who might later be targeted with sanctions such as asset freezes or denial of visas.
“Given their wealth and relationship to the Russian state, many oligarchs in Russia either wield or are susceptible to considerable political influence,” the two senators said in the letter, seen by Reuters, which also stated oligarchs have used their wealth to protect the state from sanctions.
The letter asked each bank whether it had, within five years, conducted a review to see if it had any accounts handled by anyone on the list released on Jan. 29 of oligarchs or senior Russian political figures.
If so, it asked for information about the review and any findings. If a bank had not conducted a review, the letter asked what was done to recognize any venture between the institution and listed Russians.
A JPMorgan Chase spokesman said the company had received the letter and was reviewing it. A Barclays spokesman declined comment. Staff at the other institutions did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If the banks do not disclose the information, the senators are planning to seek potentially more intrusive action, such as a government investigation.
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