Day: March 13, 2022

An article on Vox from the Centre for European Policy Research says that cryptocurrency exchanges have only done what is legally required of them when sanctioning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, unlike the mainstream financial institutions whose restrictions on the Russians generally exceeds what is required by law. The article argues that the implications for the future of cryptocurrencies will be considerable.

https://voxeu.org/article/cryptocurrencies-and-war-ukraine

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On 11 March, American Shipper reported that, after oil companies were given a 45-day window by the Biden administration to phase out existing contracts for Russian oil, at least 2 tankers were loaded with Russian oil and departed for US destinations.  MarineTraffic identified 12 tankers in total as part of the “flotilla” traveling with Russian oil to the US.  It is said that, while these oil contracts were made prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they could have been cancelled; and tanker cargoes can be traded en route, so there is a possibility the Russian oil may not end up in the US.  Even after the ships reach the US, there is no guarantee they will be able to discharge the Russian oil, due to possible union action.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/2-tankers-fill-up-with-russian-oil-after-45-day-us-countdown-begins

On 10 March, a Statement from Interpol said that to prevent any potential misuse of INTERPOL’s channels in relation to the targeting of individuals within or beyond the conflict in Ukraine, heightened supervision and monitoring measures in relation to Russia have now been implemented.  Moscow must now send all diffusions to the General Secretariat to be checked for compliance with INTERPOL’s Rules, and only if a diffusion is found compliant will the General Secretariat then disseminate it to member countries. 

https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Events/News/2022/Ukraine-INTERPOL-General-Secretariat-statement

On 12 March, Guernsey Press reported that the Guernsey Financial Services Commission has revealed that between £9 and £12 billion from the local investment funds sector is understood to be invested in assets in Russia; and that total flows from Russia to Guernsey in the last quarter for which it has the data – Q3 of 2021 – totalled some £75 million., which comprised just 0.12% of the total flows into Guernsey during those 3 months.

https://guernseypress.com/news/2022/03/12/less-than-500m-of-direct-russian-exposure/