Italy Steps up Freezing of Assets Linked to Russian Oligarchs

On Friday, the Bank of Italy's financial intelligence section directed Italian banks to immediately notify it of any actions taken to freeze the assets of people and businesses targeted by Russian sanctions.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Western allies have taken steps to isolate its economy and financial system, including sanctioning its central bank and oligarchs who accumulated fortunes and political power under Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Reuters.

In a statement, the Bank of Italy's UIF section stated that all bank notifications must include the names of the inpiduals involved, as well as the value and nature of the assets, and must be provided "as soon as feasible."

It made the request after the Italian Treasury's financial security committee convened on Thursday to assess what had already been done and the planned actions to freeze the assets, according to a second statement from the finance ministry.

The Treasury Department stated that the committee had increased its efforts to verify that the penalties, which apply to both real estate and financial assets, were effective.

Four cargo ships and a luxury yacht tied to oligarchs were seized by French authorities on Thursday, while a roughly $600 million palatial pleasure craft owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is also on the EU's sanctions list, was docked in a Hamburg shipyard.

Usmanov, a metals and telecommunications tycoon from Uzbekistan, is well-known in Italy for owning homes on the Sardinian island of Sardinia.

Sanctions and a diminished presence of wealthy Russians, according to Mirko Idili, a coordinator for the CISL union in Sardinia, might harm the island's economy and jeopardise over 1,000 employment.