Foreign banks could lose U.S. access for helping sanctioned Russian targets

The bill orders the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury to write rules that either block or heavily restrict U. S. bank accounts used by foreign financial institutions that knowingly give major financial services to certain Russian-linked people or entities. These include people already under Russia-related U. S. sanctions, certain Russian banks and companies named in existing executive orders, and foreign persons that the Secretary finds operate in Russia’s energy sector. If a person breaks these new rules, they can face civil fines based on the size of the transaction or a set maximum amount, whichever is larger.

If a person willfully breaks the rules, they can face higher criminal fines and, if an individual, possible prison time of up to 20 years. The bill also requires the Treasury Secretary to decide, within 90 days, whether three large Russian energy companies—Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil—count as operating in Russia’s energy sector under the bill’s standard. This decision must be reported to key committees in Congress. Another major part of the bill tells the Treasury Secretary, within 90 days, to seize and transfer certain Russian state assets that are held by U. S. financial institutions.

These “covered Russian resources” are funds or property of the Russian Central Bank, the Russian National Wealth Fund, or Russia’s Ministry of Finance that are already identified in specific reports and are located in the United States. The Secretary must move this money into the Ukraine Support Fund, where it can be used for purposes listed in existing law or to buy defense items for Ukraine. The President may waive key requirements. The President can waive the sanctions on a foreign financial institution for up to 180 days at a time, if the waiver helps resolve the national emergency or is important to U. S.

national interests, and reports the reasons to Congress. The President can also waive the Russian asset-transfer requirement for up to one year in total, if Russia is taking meaningful steps to stop destabilizing Ukraine or if the waiver is important to U. S. national interests. Finally, the bill includes an end date. All of its powers and rules would end either 30 days after the President reports to Congress that Russia has stopped destabilizing Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory, or 5 years after the bill becomes law, whichever comes first.