24 Mar 2022 17:39

Any transaction involving gold related to Central Bank of Russia is covered by existing sanctions - OFAC

MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - Any transaction involving gold related to Central Bank of Russia is covered by existing sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said.

"U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transaction - including gold-related transactions - involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation, or the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation," OFAC said in new guidance on gold transactions.

"U.S. persons, including gold dealers, distributors, wholesalers, buyers, individual traders, refineries, and financial institutions, are generally prohibited from engaging in or facilitating prohibited transactions, including gold-related transactions in which blocked persons have an interest," OFAC says in its FAQ section. These prohibitions apply to transactions involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Russia's National Wealth Fund, and the Russian Ministry of Finance, it says.

"Sanctioned Russian persons are known to employ a wide variety of measures in their efforts to evade U.S. and international sanctions. As such, U.S. persons, wherever located, including persons that process or facilitate gold-related transactions, must be vigilant against attempts to circumvent OFAC regulations and must take risk-based steps to ensure they do not engage in prohibited transactions," OFAC said.

The value of monetary gold in Russia's international reserves totaled $132.26 billion at the end of January. Gold accounted for 21% of the reserves.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is working with the Treasury Department to freeze Russian gold reserves after locking down its currency reserves, U.S. media outlets reported this week, citing sources. Whether this initiative will still be relevant following the publication of OFAC's clarifications has yet to be reported.