On June 3, within the framework of the business program of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum-2021, the Valdai Discussion Club held a session, titled “Risks Sanctions Pose to the Global Financial System and International Business.”
Sanctions have been at the centre of the Club’s agenda for a long time, since they remain a serious challenge to the national security of countries around the world, requiring balanced expert assessments. The Valdai Club session at SPIEF-2021 is dedicated to key trends and means of protection against sanctions, as well as their impact on the global economy and finances, especially against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past two decades, the number of cases of times restrictive measures have been used against individual countries, sectors of their economy, companies and corporations has increased significantly. Banks and the financial sector encounter the most serious risk, with sanctions posing a threat to both the financial infrastructure of the target country and foreign banks.The United States continues to impose widespread sanctions due to its dominant position in the global financial system. Financial and trade relations have been politicised. In the long term, it will be possible to abandon the dollar as the main means of payment in international transactions. However, within the US administration under Joseph Biden, sanctions continue to be one of the main instruments of pressure, which Washington has no plans to abandon.
For the SPIEF-2021 session, the Valdai Club has prepared a new special report: “US-China Relations: Moving Towards a New Cold War?” This is the second major report to have been published by the Club in the past year on the topic of sanctions.
The participants in the Valdai Club session discussed the following issues:
How are geopolitical problems and interests related to the application of sanctions?
Why is the financial sector especially vulnerable to sanctions?
Should we expect a new escalation of sanctions against Russia?
How can the risks of sanctions be managed at the corporate, national and international level?
Speakers:
Gilles Carbonnier, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Vladimir Chizhov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Union
Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights
Arnaud Dubien, Director of the Franco-Russian Observo Analytical Centre
Tony Ewing, Managing Director, Conquer Risk Capital & Advisory Board Member, RC Investments
Vladimir Kolychev, Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation
Moderator:
Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.