HONG KONG -- A senior U.S. Treasury official this month met with Hong Kong financial institutions to warn them against doing business with Russia, acting on a recent letter from Congress and coming just weeks ahead of Washington's presidential transition.
Jesse Baker, the Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for Asia and the Middle East in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, held a meeting last week in Hong Kong with several banks, according to three sources who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the talks. The meeting was on Dec. 11 and included HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of China (Hong Kong), one person said.
