U.S. lawmakers ask JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs for information on Russian debt dealings

(Reuters) – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Katie Porter have asked the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc for information related to trading of Russian debt since the Ukraine conflict began.

The Democratic lawmakers asked for a list of clients involved in trading of Russian government and corporate debt since Feb. 24, when Moscow launched a “special military operation” against Ukraine.

Details were sought on the type, amount and profits related to these trades, as well as profits the banks made from them, according to letters that were sent to the chief executives of both the banks.

“This maneuvering is legal under the sanctions … however, it may undermine the work of the U.S. Treasury and the international community seeking to hold Putin to account,” Warren and Porter wrote.

The West has imposed punitive sanctions on Russia in a bid to isolate the country after it invaded its neighbor. Both Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan said in March they were unwinding their Russian businesses.

A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment on the letter beyond a statement made by the bank in April.

“As a market-maker, we have been helping clients reduce their risks and manage their exposures to Russia in the secondary markets. None of the trades violate sanctions or benefit Russia,” the bank had then said.

Goldman Sachs also declined to comment.

Details of the letters were first reported by Bloomberg News.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru, David Henry in New York and Pete Schroeder in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Shounak Dasgupta)