invezz.com
The European Commission on Wednesday 9 March agreed to enhance its targeted sanctions against Russia following the Kremlin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
In its latest deliberations on the subject of sanctions, the EU elected to amend two of its regulations to include restrictive measures against Belarus. As well, member states agreed to include crypto assets as part of a further tightening of sanctions against Moscow.
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“These amendments create a closer alignment of EU sanctions regarding Russia and Belarus and will help to ensure even more effectively that Russian sanctions cannot be circumvented, including through Belarus,” the European Commission noted in the statement.
Information the bloc posted on its website went on to specifically mention crypto assets as one of the targeted sectors for further restrictions.
It noted that the EU has the “common understanding that loans and credit can be provided by any means, including crypto assets.”
Transferable securities
Also looked at was the concept of crypto assets as a clear representation of “transferable securities”. While this definition of crypto assets has not been included in an EU draft regulation on digital assets, the consideration that crypto does fall in this category is there.
EU regulators are expected to vote on draft regulations on the topic next week. However, today’s connection of crypto assets to possible evasion of sanctions could suggest the vote might go that route.
Meanwhile, the European Commission wants to see a proper implementation of all the sanctions imposed on Russia, implying regulators expect compliance from players within the crypto space.
Crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken and Binance have so far said they are not looking at a blanket ban on Russians. However, it is expected they will look to comply if there are regulatory guidelines to do so.
Elsewhere, major financial services and payment providers have continued to halt operations and services in Russia. Mastercard and Visa have suspended credit card services in the country.