U.S. now targets Brokerages catering to Russian oligarchy

Captholli is absolutely right. A Russian owned yacht agency specifically designed to hide and disguise the real owners. And they named it "Imperial" to just show everybody their intentions in advance......

Good intel, operating openly in Ft. Lauderdale.... imagine that.

Should businesses which dealt with Russian oligarchs before the Ukrainian invasion be punished now? Not sure that is fair.

The Oligarch owned agency should be. However, the other agencies are being looked at over their current dealings. As soon as the first sanction was announced, I got emails from brokers wanting to make me a deal. I replied that I wasn't interested, advised them they were playing with fire. They insisted it was all legit and I told them it didn't matter, if they touched it, they'd be sorry. They knew what they were doing, not so naive, just looking for a quick buck.

There are two key business elements that apply. First, the most obvious, to not engage in any impropriety. Second, one must conduct themselves in such a way as to remove any appearance of possible impropriety.

Shouldn’t this apply to the shipyards as well….Lurssen, Oceanco, Feadship…and on and on…

Marinas, fuel suppliers, provisions suppliers, service companies….where does it end…I mean EVERYONE has known these Eastern block billionaires got their money in less than legitimate ways…..EVERYONE took their money and looked the other way, and now, the law has SUDDENLY been found!!!!! And we all see the light!!!!!

The hypocrisy is a bit much, no???

And also, what’s the statute of limitations?!??…. I mean we can all look at our own billionaire class….what about the Mexican billionaire s……hell a prominent ex president of Mexico has quite the boat!!! (And quite the reputation!!!)

As long as they are not being punished for pre invasion business dealings. I have dealt with extreme high net worth people from Russia, and I didn’t know these oligarchs were too dirty to deal with.

Punishment is based on post sanction dealings. However, I must admit to looking differently at one builder than I did before based on their involvement with certain Russian oligarchs, not as customers but as owners. I don't expect anyone to know the nature or source of the wealth of all their customers. Over the years, I've had very few potential customers I refused to deal with, and it was generally based on how they did business and, in one major case, based on their general lack of integrity and trustworthiness. It wasn't based on how they made their money as I didn't know that.

However, when it comes to co-owners and investors in one's business, pleading innocence is much harder for me to accept. I don't find myself able to sweep that all under the rug now that when it comes to light, they sell and you reorganize. You knew and now you've just been caught. Also, the equity may have been converted to debt so still sizable funds going to them. One company I know of tried to hide it and didn't answer ownership questions with full disclosure.

The oligarchs are not being punished for the way they obtained their wealth, although I find it easy not to feel sorry for them because of the way they obtained their wealth. They are having assets seized if they have been found to have broken laws connected with sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, like money laundering. The oligarchs don't want to give up their life style, so they try to get around sanctions.

The oligarchs are tight with Putin, which is why they are subject to sanctions. I haven't heard of our billionaires or Mexican billionaires being buddies with Putin. I see no hypocrisy.

Totally agree captholli! And as said before, having the idea of naming your company "Imperial" is just showing to everybody that you don't care at all......

Very few boat builders are owned by one individual with full power. Rather they have shareholders or partners looking for profits. As such, they aren't likely to be selective on customers. Also, they aren't in position to judge. Do you build for a Russian oil or banking owner or what about the royal family of Saudi Arabia? What about the Chinese Entrepreneur or do you like Musk or Zuckerberg? What do you know about the character of any customer? How far do you go in the normal course of business? I have refused to sell to one very famous company and man in the U.S. However, we sell to mom and pop stores and some of those may be run by disgusting individuals guilty of all sorts of things but with good financial statements. I watch performers or sports stars not knowing what kind of people they really are. John Sterling was booted from NBA ownership, but the true nature of the man was known for decades before. As owners, my wife and I can decide. However, most business people don't have that sole authority. Even if one does, do they really have the information.

A simple example in the US is Lukoil. A major supplier in the NE. Russian owned. Before, did anyone think about their home deliveries or stopping at one of their stations? Plenty of people got yachts filled by them.

I wouldn't have built for Gaddafi or Duvalier but might have for even worse persons. However, if I'm running a company owned by others, do I really have the authority to select customers based on their morality?

Once sanctions are issued, the decisions should be easy, although there were brokerages trying to turn profits.

Let's reverse things a moment. Would you purchase a boat from a builder with questionable owners? Heesen became a quick "no" but are they now a "yes?" Not to me.

Sunseeker is owned by the Wanda Group. What do I know about Wang Jianlin, the founder. At 15, in the Chinese Army where he served for 17 years. Ferretti is owned by the Weichai Group. It's a state owned holding company. However, the companies are trustworthy builders. Sunseeker and Ferretti employ a lot of people who I'd hate to see out of work. The current owners saved them from that. I never would have dealt with Northern or Trinity (latter years) as I knew enough to distrust them.

We own retail stores and sell to whomever comes in and I'm sure some awful people. I'm sure we sell lumber and hardware to builders who cheat customers and others who beat their wives and some even abuse their kids but we don't know our customer like that.

Holli says "not all oligarchs are cut from the same cloth". I think of descendants of Mafia in the US who have chosen to get out of that type life. Do we know if they are really different? Do we trust them? How many generations before we do? What about descendants of Fascists regimes who likely inherited ill gotten wealth?

Every Russian to face sanctions has pled their innocence. Ultimately, we have to trust our governments to know which are honest businessmen and which merit sanctioning. I think of all the other Russians. Many in Russia oppose what is going on and most living elsewhere do. I hope if you know any Russians in your community you're being kind to them. Muslims and Chinese have already been through a lot of mistreatment. I saw an attendant attacked at a Lukoil station. Surely, not an oligarch.

The world is smaller and under a microscope now but nothing new from 40 plus years ago .
Greed isnt good it always leads to the darkside. just wait real estate is next and the commerical buldings and the new apartments poping up all over who really is behnd them look deeper and you would be amazed .

"Ultimately, we have to trust our governments to know which are honest businessmen and which merit sanctioning. I think of all the other Russians. "

Famous last words!!!!

I agree with the rest of your post though. In any case, we'll soon find out how far these goverments want to flex their power.

So far "these governments" that you are complaining about are behaving rather timidly compared to Russia. Would you rather be a Ukrainian or a Russian oligarch?