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?
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.