New US sanctions forced Moscow to stop trading dollars and euros
On the evening of June 12, the Moscow Stock Exchange officially announced that trading in dollars and euros had been suspended. This happened after the US Treasury imposed powerful sanctions against the Russian trading platform.
Main theses:
- The National Clearing Center, the National Settlement Depository, and insurance companies Sogaz and RNPK were hit by US sanctions.
- The U.S. Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on 5 Russian banks and dozens of individuals and legal entities from different countries.
- The sanctions will result in a halt to trading in dollars and euros on the Moscow stock exchange starting the day after they are imposed.
US sanctions against Moscow Exchange had an immediate effect
The U.S. Department points out that illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously taken a number of measures to further attract capital through the Moscow Exchange from both Russian individuals and individuals from “friendly countries.”
Official Washington emphasizes that this is what allows shareholders to profit from the Kremlin’s military machine by investing in Russian government debt, Russian corporations, and leading Russian defense companies.
What is important to understand is that the United States has been hit by sanctions:
- The National Clearing Center is a counterparty to all foreign exchange transactions on MICEX;
- National Settlement Depository is the central securities depository in Russia;
- insurance companies Sogaz and RNPC.
Immediately after the imposition of new US sanctions, the Moscow Exchange announced that it would suspend trading in dollars and euros from June 13 and halt all trading in instruments settled in dollars and euros.
Who else is subject to new US sanctions against Russia
As mentioned earlier, on June 12, the US Treasury Department officially confirmed the expansion of the secondary sanctions mechanism against Russia and the imposition of sanctions against more than 90 foreign companies and individuals that allow the Kremlin to circumvent restrictions.
Thus, it is stated that Washington has imposed sanctions against 5 Russian banks:
- Promsvyazbank,
- Vnesheconombank,
- Sberbank of Russia,
- VTB Bank and
- VTB Capital Holding, and their foreign offices.
Dozens of individuals and legal entities from Russia, Belarus, the British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Serbia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom also came under the new US sanctions.
