Ukrainian MPs Draft Sanctions Appeal

A group of Ukrainian lawmakers are drafting an appeal to the G7 (Group of Seven) countries and to the European Union increasing the effectiveness of tools being used to prevent of Russia’s evasion of global sanctions.

The EU and G7 are of particular interest to the lawmakers as the entities who helped to establish the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).

The draft law targets some tricks used by sanctioned individuals and countries to circumvent their restrictions, and includes improved methods for identifying wealth’s beneficial owners – even in countries that have strong secrecy laws – so illegal monies can be frozen or seized. Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, an estimated $330 billion of Russian monies have been frozen or seized after an aggressive launch of sanctions against Moscow by western countries.

The parliamentarians’ draft bill also seeks to carefully monitor and control virtual assets, namely crypto-currencies. The international market for crypto-currencies, with their high degree of anonymity, runs the risk of being used by Russia to secretly move wealth between locations.

The United States, and other countries, have sought to establish new laws and financial norms to control the crypto-market which falls outside of their traditional domain. This past July 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that effectively banned the use of crypto-currencies, in Russia, to pay for goods or services.

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The participating MPs come from five parties in the Parliament, including from the President’s “Servant of the People” Party which also has a majority in the Verkhovna Rada.