Swiss-owned company’s Russian gold trades expose gap in western sanctions

A Swiss commodity trader’s Abu Dhabi subsidiary has been able to buy tens of millions of dollars of Russian gold despite a ban on Swiss entities undertaking such activity, the latest evidence of a gap in western sanctions against Moscow.

Switzerland last August adopted the EU’s prohibition of “the direct or indirect import, purchase or transfer” of Russian gold including shipments into third countries, which was among a raft of western measures introduced in response to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine.