{"id":7614,"date":"2024-06-13T17:35:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T09:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/?p=7614"},"modified":"2024-06-21T17:54:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T09:54:15","slug":"us-sanctions-hong-kong-uae-firms-for-dealing-with-russian-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/us-sanctions-hong-kong-uae-firms-for-dealing-with-russian-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"US sanctions Hong Kong, UAE firms for dealing with Russian gold"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"summary__summary__31feP\">\n<li class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__base__22dCE body__small_body__2vQyf summary__point__NO-2F\" data-testid=\"Body\">Russia is the 2nd largest gold miner after China<\/li>\n<li class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__base__22dCE body__small_body__2vQyf summary__point__NO-2F\" data-testid=\"Body\">Its major gold miners were sanctioned by the US in 2023<\/li>\n<li class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__base__22dCE body__small_body__2vQyf summary__point__NO-2F\" data-testid=\"Body\">US now imposing sanctions for helping Russian gold trade<\/li>\n<li class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__base__22dCE body__small_body__2vQyf summary__point__NO-2F\" data-testid=\"Body\">Hong-Kong based VPower Finance Security hit by new sanctions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) &#8211; The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on several Hong Kong firms, including VPower Finance Security, for aiding trade in gold produced by an already sanctioned Russian miner, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-1\">In a new\u00a0<a class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__inherit-color__3208F text__inherit-font__1Y8w3 text__inherit-size__1DZJi link__link__3Ji6W link__underline_default__2prE_\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/us-treasury-widens-sanctions-curb-russias-war-production-2024-06-12\/\" data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sanctions<\/a>\u00a0list, Washington sought to raise the pressure on Moscow over its war against Ukraine and targeted Russia&#8217;s access to support from third countries. The Treasury said foreign firms helping Russia&#8217;s war economy now &#8220;face greater risk of sanctions&#8221;.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"paragraph-1\">\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-2\">Wednesday&#8217;s list included a trans-national network &#8220;laundering gold for a designated Russian gold producer&#8221;, it said\u00a0<a class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__inherit-color__3208F text__inherit-font__1Y8w3 text__inherit-size__1DZJi link__link__3Ji6W link__underline_default__2prE_ link__with-icon__3x3oD\" href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy2404\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"Link\">in a statement, opens new tab<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-3\">The producer was Polyus\u00a0<a class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__inherit-color__3208F text__inherit-font__1Y8w3 text__inherit-size__1DZJi link__link__3Ji6W link__underline_default__2prE_ link__with-icon__3x3oD\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/companies\/PLZL.MM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"Link\">(PLZL.MM), opens new tab<\/a>, the statement added. Washington sanctioned Polyus, the largest gold miner in Russia and the world&#8217;s number four, in 2023.<\/div>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-4\">According to the statement, a Polyus employee and his Hong Kong-based associate engaged in a scheme &#8220;whereby payments from the sale of Russian-origin gold were converted into fiat currency and cryptocurrencies through numerous UAE and Hong Kong-based front companies&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-5\">The scheme, the Treasury said, used Hong Kong-based firms Holden International Trading Limited and Taube Precious HK Limited to route payments and UAE-based Red Coast Metals Trading DMCC to obfuscate payments from the sale of Russian-origin gold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-6\">Additionally, the scheme involved Hong Kong-based VPower Finance Security Hong Kong Limited to transport the Russian-origin gold, it added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-7\">Polyus declined to comment. VPower did not reply to a Reuters&#8217; request for comment. Holden, Taube and Red Coast could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-8\">An industry body, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), said in a statement that it had revoked the LBMA membership of VPower Finance Security with immediate effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-9\">Russia is the world&#8217;s second-largest gold miner after China. It produced 321.8 metric tons in 2023, or 8.8% of global output from mines, according to consultancy Metals Focus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-10\">Moscow stopped disclosing its export and import data in detail shortly after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but part of its supplies is still visible through data from countries buying Russian products.<\/p>\n<p>According to data provider Trade Data Monitor (TDM), Hong Kong was the largest importer of gold from Russia as of 2023. The data does not track the UAE&#8217;s gold imports from Russia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-1\">Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/us-imposes-sanctions-several-hong-kong-uae-firms-dealing-with-russian-origin-2024-06-12\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russia is  [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[380],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dealers-in-precious-metals-and-stones-industrial-news"],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":7614,"zh":7608},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7614"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7619,"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7614\/revisions\/7619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpl.hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}