Russians panic over FPSA corrupt oligarchs list and begin liquidating assets!

MOSCOW, Russia (PNN) - January 16, 2018 - Russian oligarchs are growing increasingly nervous over the Fascist Police States of Amerika Treasury's upcoming "Official Oligarch" list, which is being created pursuant to an Aug. 2, 2017 law requiring that the Treasury and State Departments identify officials and oligarchs as determined by "their closeness to the Russian regime and their net worth" in order to penalize the Kremlin for its alleged meddling in the 2016 election. The report, due in two weeks on January 29, must include “indices of corruption with respect to those individuals” and any foreign assets they may have. Russian businessmen are scrambling right now to protect assets and avoid the list.

Some people who think they’re likely to land on the list have stress-tested the potential impact on their investments, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Others are liquidating holdings, according to their FPSA advisers.

Russian businessmen have approached former Treasury and State Department officials with experience in sanctions for help staying off the list, said Dan Fried, who previously worked at the State Department and said he turned down such offers. Some Russians sent proxies to Washington in an attempt to avoid lobbying disclosures, according to one person who was contacted.

With Russia-friendly lobbyists such as the Podesta Group and Paul Manafort's operations shuttered, many desperate Russian oligarchs have been cut off from their D.C. influence peddlers.

Meanwhile, Treasury officials are reportedly growing concerned over the list, as they worry some people will conflate it with Obama-era sanctions. Moreover, portions of the report may be classified and issued in the form of a letter - as opposed to releasing it through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is responsible for issuing sanctions.

The Treasury's report must include "indices of corruption," which will list any foreign assets next to an oligarch considered corrupt. “Because of the nervousness that the Russian business community is facing, a number of oligarchs are already beginning to wind back businesses, treating them as if they are already designated, to stay ahead of it,” said Daniel Tannebaum, head of PrivewaterhouseCoopers, LLP’s global financial sanctions unit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned wealthy nationals over worsening FPSA sanctions, and provided them with a capital amnesty program designed to allow oligarchs to repatriate some of their overseas assets. Meanwhile, Putin has issued special bonds that will allow the wealthy to hold assets outside of the reach of the FPSA Treasury.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Russia will react to any punitive measures against its businessmen, stating, "The principle of reciprocity remains," suggesting that Putin would employ a commensurate response to a FPSA crackdown on oligarchs.

Perhaps one of the main drivers behind Russian oligarchs shedding assets before the FPSA Treasury's "indices of corruption" are released is an Executive Order signed quietly in late December that freezes the FPSA housed assets of foreign government officials or executives of foreign corporations deemed to be corrupt.

In fact, anyone in the world who has "materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material or technological support for, or goods or services" to foreigners targeted by the Executive Order is subject to frozen assets. This would apply to D.C. lobbyists working for corrupt Russian oligarchs, or FPSA government officials who have effectuated a uranium deal deemed corrupt.

While it has yet to be seen whether the asset liquidations will affect any specific sectors, one should keep an eye out for any red-dawn related volatility over the next two weeks.