Senate Banking Questions Sanctions Regime, Vows Stronger Prohibitions
In a remarkably bipartisan session, the Senate Banking Committee today made it clear that Congress wants tougher sanctions against Russia, near-term action against hold-out nations to oil-price caps and other efforts, and perhaps even confiscation of Russian assets to fund U.S. Ukraine aid. The panel was also united on the need to swiftly punish China should relations deteriorate. Several bills likely soon to advance were discussed, including soon-to-be-reintroduced Warren-Marshall legislation to extend AML and sanctions standards more effectively to cryptoassets and Rounds-Tester legislation (S. 168) to bar persons from sanctioned nations from purchasing agricultural property. Discussion was clear on Daines legislation (S. 536) related to asset confiscation, a proposal that in the past has sparked Administration concern due to sovereign-immunity and global financial-stability considerations. As this report notes, the session also assessed sanctions effectiveness, with the consensus seeming to center on Senate views that sanctions have worked to some extent but may need to be strengthened. Republicans were particularly emphatic on the latter point.