by Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Wall Street on Parade
Russia began its brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Two days later the European Commission, U.S., U.K. and Canada announced sweeping sanctions, which have grown in granular details since then. By early this week, hundreds of corporations with the most famous brands in the world had announced that they were closing their stores in Russia, or ceasing to ship their products there, or severing joint business operations in a rebuke to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.
But it wasn’t until this past Wednesday that anyone heard a peep from the largest U.S. banks on Wall Street about their plans to cease operations in Russia. Citigroup made its ambiguous announcement on Wednesday, March 9, followed by equally vague statements by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase on Thursday, March 10.
A slogan of “The Coalition of the Timid” came to mind.