In the latest US sanctions on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine, the US Treasury has banned US investment fund managers from buying any Russian debt or stocks on secondary markets, along with an existing ban on purchases of new issues.
According to Arabiya Net, despite comprehensive sanctions imposed by Washington in the past few months, Americans have been allowed to trade in assets worth hundreds of billions of dollars that are already being traded on the secondary market.
In directives posted on its website, the US Treasury stated that the ban extends to the Russian debt and the shares of all Russian companies, not just the shares of companies whose names were mentioned in the sanctions.
"Consistent with our goal to deny Russia the financial resources it needs to continue its brutal war against Ukraine, the Treasury has made clear that American persons are prohibited from making new investments that serve Russia's goals, including through purchases in the secondary market," a Treasury spokesperson said Tuesday.
But the rules still allow US investors to sell or continue to hold Russian assets they already own.
