She accuses Wall Street managers of undermining sanctions.
(Foto: Bloomberg)
New York US Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticized Wall Street financial institutions for their Russia strategy. Analysts from America’s largest bank, JP Morgan Chase, recommended buying bonds from badly hit Russian companies such as Lukoil and the steel manufacturers NLMK and MMK last week.
JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and several hedge funds have also bought bonds from Russian companies themselves in the past few days, as the financial services provider Bloomberg reported.
Institutions regularly buy bonds, either on behalf of customers or because they expect to find buyers. In this case, however, the institutions would violate America’s tough course of financial sanctions, believes the Democratic senator, who has been a prominent critic of banks for years.
“Big Wall Street banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs never miss an opportunity to get richer. Even if it means capitalizing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and undermining sanctions on Russian companies,” she said.
In recent weeks, America has repeatedly imposed tough sanctions on the Russian economy, like many European countries.
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Bond trading is not explicitly affected by the sanctions. But experts warn of reputational risks.
After all, the goal of the sanctions is to make Russian companies and their instruments uninvestable, warns former derivatives trader Athanassios Diplas. The banks declined to comment.
More: Effects of the sanctions – some equity investors are stuck in Russian securities