Commodity-Market Backstop Prospects, Impact
In this alert, we update clients on our assessment of policy consequences related to commodity-market strains. Notably, a letter from European energy traders to the ECB has been made public indicating stress in this sector is so severe that traders are seeking emergency liquidity support. While directed to the ECB, the letter calls upon all central banks to provide this support, making it likely that a similar plea has been sent to the Federal Reserve.
Congress Wants More, Tougher Sanctions
Although witnesses at yesterday’s Senate Banking Committee sought to assure Congress that digital currency does not promote sanctions evasion (see Client Report SANCTION17), legislation continues to advance to curtail any form of sanctions evasion. As we noted yesterday, senior Senate Democrats have introduced a bill expressly targeting digital assets and exchanges while HFSC marked up numerous bills tightening more conventional financial-transmission and policy channels.