Britain sanctions Russia’s gold

The UK has added a ban on transactions with Russian gold to their list of restrictions placed on the country’s central bank earlier this month. This was announced in an updated version of the sanctions guidance published on the website of the British government on Friday.

“Guidance updated to clarify that the prohibition on providing financial services for the purposes of foreign exchange reserve and asset management also applies to transactions involving gold… It is prohibited to provide financial services to carry out transactions with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation involving its gold,” the guidance document said.

The document, initially published on February 28, states that British entities are restricted from conducting any transactions with the Russian Central Bank, Finance Ministry or wealth fund. The addition of the clarification on gold came after concerns arose that Russia could be using gold transactions to evade sanctions.

On Thursday, the US Treasury also issued a guidance on its website warning that gold-related transactions involving Russia may be subject to sanctions by the US authorities.

The restrictions affect the trade of Russian gold on the metals exchanges in Britain and the US. They do not stop Russia from selling its gold to other countries or exchanges.

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