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Benjamin W. Hutten extensively quoted in American Banker article, “Harsher sanctions against Russia could hurt U.S. banks”

American Banker

The American Banker article, “Harsher sanctions against Russia could hurt U.S. banks,” discussed the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the financial system of Russia and its impact reaching many U.S. depository institutions. It is expected that compliance with this round of sanctions will be unusually difficult since the U.S. is currently allowing for some Russian financial institutions to continue to facilitate energy payments to Europe. Hutten noted, “Banks are likely to focus on figuring out how to implement that, particularly because it's moving so quickly. It's just not as easy as an on-off switch, which is how sanctions normally work.”

The article reported that the U.S. might inflict a broader, even complete crackdown on Russian bank access to Swift, resulting in dire consequences for Europe. “So far, only some Russian banks will be disconnected from Swift, but there could be a point where either more banks are individually targeted, or where we follow the approach taken with Iran, in which all of the banks in the country were kicked off of Swift,” Hutten explained. “That would be a drastic measure and one that Europe could be hesitant to take because of how it would complicate payment for energy transactions.”

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