Following Senator Hassan’s Push, Treasury Freezes Russia’s Gold Assets

WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, today the Treasury Department announced it was cracking down on Russia’s attempts to sell its gold reserves to prop up its economy. The move follows Senator Hassan’s bipartisan bill, Stop Russian Government and Oligarchs from Limiting Democracy (Stop Russian GOLD) Act, and her call with Secretary Yellen yesterday on the issue.

Earlier today, Senator Hassan led fellow Senators Cornyn, King, and Hagerty in a joint statement praising the Treasury Department’s action and calling for passage of their Stop Russian GOLD Act. Their statement can be found here.

To read the New York Times’ coverage, click here or see below:

New York Times: Daily Business Briefing: The U.S. leveled new sanctions on Russia’s Parliament and defense companies.

The Treasury Department warned that Russian gold sales could be subject to sanctions.

By Alan Rappeport

The United States hit Russia with a new round of sanctions on Thursday, targeting more than 300 members of its Parliament and dozens of defense companies, while moving to restrict Russia’s ability to use gold reserves to prop up its currency.

[…] The Biden administration officials said they had seen reports that suggested that Russia was trying to use its gold reserves to prop up the ruble, and that the U.S. and its allies were shutting down Russia’s ability to use gold to circumvent sanctions.

The warning came a day after Ms. Yellen spoke with a bipartisan group of senators about proposed legislation to impose sanctions on Russian gold. They said that Russia was laundering money through gold by buying and selling it for high-value currency.

The senators Ms. Yellen had met with — Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine; Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas; Senator Bill Hagerty, Republican of Tennessee; and Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire — praised the move by the Treasury on Thursday.

“In order to limit the effects of Russia’s billions in gold assets, we must keep up the pressure and close any possible escape hatch Putin and his cronies will use to help fund their unconscionable war,” they said in a joint statement. “It is important that the Treasury Department has heeded our calls and taken action to help prevent Russia from selling off its gold.”

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