Treasury May Need More Funding for Russian Sanctions Actions, Senator Says
Congress should make sure the Treasury Department has enough funding to fully target Russian oligarchs and sanctioned Russian companies Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said March 1. Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, applauded Treasury’s Russia sanctions work so far but said Congress may need to provide the agency with more resources.
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“I’m going to push for every possible economic tool to make Putin pay for his actions,” Wyden said. “While the Treasury Department has done a remarkable job to implement tough sanctions, there are several key areas Congress needs to address and should support.”
Wyden said Treasury should require all "financial institutions to rigorously monitor and eliminate correspondent banking services” provided to Russian oligarchs and sanctioned companies associated with the Russian government. He also said Treasury should partner with the Justice Department to create a formal task force to seize property and assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs and companies. “If Congress needs to provide additional resources for this effort,” Wyden said, “it should do so.”
Other steps can be taken to improve the U.S.’s anti-money laundering regulations. Wyden said Congress should review whether Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has enough funding to implement the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, which could expand certain suspicious activity reporting (see 2201240025). The law is also meant to shed more light on ownership of certain shell companies. “Russian oligarchs have relied on anonymous shell companies to hide their wealth and while we’ve given the Treasury Department the tools to go after them, they need the resources,” Wyden said.