The evolution of US financial sanctions

Edward Fishman

Senior Research Scholar and Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs

Columbia University

Eddie Fishman is professor at Columbia University. He teaches a course on economic statecraft and strategy and his recent book ‘Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare’ was recently published to wide acclaim. He is affiliated with prominent US think tanks. Before that, he worked in the state department advising the Secretary of State on economic sanctions, particularly with respect to Russia and Iran.

Daleep Singh

Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics (2021-22, 2024-25)

National Economic Council

Daleep Singh is former deputy national security adviser for international economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council. Under the Joe Biden Administration, he coordinated the administration’s policy-making process for a range of issues at the intersection of economic policy and national security. Previously, Singh was executive vice president and head of the markets group at the New York Federal Reserve, and before that, also served in a number of positions in the US Treasury.

Mark Sobel

Vice Chair and Chief Economist

OMFIF

Mark Sobel is Chief Economist and Vice Chair at OMFIF. Mark is a veteran US Treasury official, who was at the forefront of international financial diplomacy for two decades.

Mark, who represented the US on the International Monetary Fund executive board up to April 2018, has had a 40-year Treasury career with extensive around-the-world engagement.

He works with OMFIF in dealings with private and public sector organisations, speak regularly on international and US policy, and provide OMFIF members with insight and analysis.

Mark was Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for international monetary and financial policy between 2000 and early 2015. He helped lead Treasury preparations for G7 and G20 finance minister and central bank governor meetings, formulated US positions at the IMF, and coordinated Treasury and regulatory agencies’ work in the Financial Stability Board.

Mark founded the US/EU Financial Market Regulatory Dialogue and chaired an international group of private and official sovereign debt experts that developed enhanced collective action clauses for sovereign debt restructuring. He managed the $100bn-plus Treasury Exchange Stabilization Fund and played a key role in US foreign exchange policy including coordinating the Treasury’s semi-annual foreign exchange report on China and other countries.