Sanctions against Russia

Readers of this blog may remember that in a previous blog written in Chinese, the writer suggests that the buzzword for business today is "AML" which stands for "anti-money laundering".

On a practical level, professionals handling AML would have to handle counter-terrorist financing and matters related to sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the European ｕｎｉｏｎ and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States as well.

As a result of the events happening in Ukraine, the West has imposed various economic sanctions against specified Russian individuals and entities. These sanctions are causing headaches for companies in the West and elsewhere such as Hong Kong.

The question always being asked is whether the company "can or cannot" do business with a particular company under the sanctions regime.

In an article in The Economist (14 -20 February 2015), on the basis of materials obtained by it, the magazine gives a vivid account of how certain Russian entities have tried to avoid being caught by the sanctions programmes by varying their share structure.

What is the stance of OFAC? According to The Economist, OFAC's stance is far from outright and such ambiguity in policies increases uncertainty for the business people.

At the end of the article, The Economist spells out its worries.

Nobody can be certain how the crisis in Ukraine will play out. However, the said article in The Economist is certainly a must read for people working in the AML field.