Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US Department Of Justice (DOJ) has been applying sanctions to stop financial institutions from facilitating Russian residents. In its recent actions, many financial firms, including crypto companies, have faced legal action by US authorities resulting in hefty fines. 

This time, DOJ is investigating two Swiss financial firms, Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG, to check whether the financial channels helped Russian users evade implied sanctions. According to Bloomberg, the US authority recently issued subpoenas (a court order asking someone to appear in court) to these banking firms requesting information.

Additionally, the report affirms that subpoenas were sent out before UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse, adding that many other large institutions received subpoenas from US authorities in the same round.

The DOJ’s investigations into the platforms are to determine whether the bank’s personnel facilitated sanctioned users and how they screened them over the past few years. Any identified to violate federal laws will be subject to further scrutiny by US authorities. 

Before the war between Ukraine and Russia started, Credit Suisse was known to be a reputable platform serving Russians. Notably, when it was at its peak of success, the Swiss Bank earned between $500 million to $600 million in a year from Russian users by managing around $60 billion in assets.

And when the Swiss financial firm Credit Suisse closed its operations with Russia in May 2022, it was holding above $33 billion from Russian individuals. The firm managed a large division of wealth compared to its competitor UBS having less than 50% of these funds.

Previously, BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to charges of processing transactions with the companies from sanctioned areas and agreed to pay $9 billion in fines. Sanctioned areas Paris-based BNP Paribas facilitated at the time included Iran, Sudan, and Cuba. 

The US authorities have consistently imposed sanctions on Russia for some previous years. Even the Treasury Department designated Russian Oligarchs and Vlamdire Putin’s inner circle, relying on multiple companies, to ramp up sanctions on those. 

Following the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the DOJ established a special task force named ‘KleptoCapture.’ The team was aimed at enforcing sanctions implied on Russian oligarchs.

According to a report Treasury Department published starting this month, the authority has confiscated more than $58 billion from oligarchs around the globe. The seizure includes six properties in New York and Florida worth $75 million and two luxury yachts in San Diego and Fiji collectively worth $600 million. All these assets were owned by a single oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg.

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