The US Treasury requires European banks to strengthen monitoring of compliance with sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Heads of European banks should intensify their efforts to implement measures that are designed to stop Russia’s attempts to circumvent sanctions, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. She noted that the introduction of secondary sanctions last December disrupted Russia’s efforts to procure goods necessary for its war against Ukraine, but additional work is needed.

Yellen directly recommended that executives monitor their banks’ foreign branches and subsidiaries for sanctions compliance and ask their foreign bank clients to do the same, especially in high-risk jurisdictions.

“The Russian Federation is desperate to obtain vital goods from advanced economies such as Germany and the US. We must remain vigilant to prevent the Kremlin from being able to secure its defense and industrial base and gain access to our financial systems to do so,” Yellen added.