Rep. Frank threatens Iranian-like sanctions on tax havens

FT: Threat to ban groups based in havens

“We will instruct the [Securities and Exchange Commission] and Treasury and the Fed to deny access to the American financial system to any country that holds itself out as a haven to escape our financial regulation.”

[...] Mr Frank says he envisages an exclusion programme that would work similarly to the sanctions the Bush administration imposed on Iranian banks in 2006 as part of efforts to deter that nation from developing nuclear weapons. The main Iranian banks are prohibited from directly accessing the US financial system. Analysts say that programme has made business more difficult for Iranian banks, although they are able to route transactions through intermediaries.