Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a U.S. hedge fund to purchase securities in Russian companies from 11 other funds, mostly based in the U.S. and U.K., according to a presidential decree published Monday(…)
In addition, two Russian companies, Tsefey-2 and Sovremennye Fondy Nedvizhimosty, are authorized to buy 683 Capital’s securities without needing Putin’s approval (…)
Separately, U.S. and Russian representatives have made preliminary contacts regarding collaboration with Russia’s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom, Bloomberg reported last week, citing anonymous sources. Putin mentioned the possibility of U.S.-Russian energy cooperation on Thursday.
( Moscow Times is based in the EU and is considered reliable)
Just out of curiosity has anyone ever attempted outright using financial instruments as weapons of war? Like a sovereign nation outright purchasing ungodly amounts of puts or shorting an entire nation? Is that a thing?
Operation Bernhard is a literal example. The Nazis tried to flood thr UK with counterfeit notes to undermine their economy.
Tariffs and sanctions are usually “cheaper” and more popular.
Dollar doliplomacy is the relevant search term. Not sure if it’s ever gone quite that far. Puts aren’t going to be a sure thing on their own but they might have uses as part of a larger strategy, such as with death spiral financing (using badly structured convertible debts in hand with shorting to cause the collapse of a company). It’s not impossible to imagine state actors engaging in this sort of thing against strategic firms in enemy countries, but I’d be surprised to see any public record of such.