Episode 9: Stephen Fallon

The Sanctions Age

Stephen Fallon on how American regulators captured global banks.

US authorities have taken advantage of the unique position of the dollar in the global economy to exercise significant control over the global financial system. When the U.S. introduces new financial regulations or sanctions regimes, global banks take notice, and tend to modify their behaviors to conform with American guidance.
Stephen Fallon has spent his whole career dealing with the exigencies of US financial regulations. In his view, American regulators are not simply influencing global banks, they have captured them.
Stephen has worked in senior compliance roles at the global advisory firm EY and the global bank Credit Suisse. Between 2019 and 2023 he was the Chief Compliance Officer of INSTEX, a unique state-owned company established to try and sustain European trade with Iran following President Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Most recently, Stephen has completed a master’s degree at Cambridge University, drawing on his professional experiences to write a thesis examining how US authorities came to exert extraordinary control over global banks.

The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions and is supported by a grant from the Hollings Center for International Dialogue.
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