But the firm that employs 100,000 in 15 countries would survive, sidestepping a potential aluminum price surge if it had been killed by the sanctions, both additional goals of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The pending deal, drawn up by EN+ Chairman Greg Barker, a member of the British House of Lords, is seen in the administration as a big win and one that is likely to be a model for other sanctions specifically naming oligarchs.

Deripaska was one of several Russians named in sanctions proposed to punish Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. Treasury said at the time that he was involved in extortion and racketeering and had links to a Russian organized crime group.

By singling him out, the administration was taking a far different path than the Obama administration and others before it that issued more general sanctions against companies.

“It’s not just sanctions as an end in itself, but sanctions as a means to an end, sanctions as a smart tool of foreign policy where you actually get a result,” said a source knowledgeable with the EN+ negotiations.

Another source involved added, “What we are talking about truly is the art of the deal, business people dealing with business people.”

Treasury officials have also heralded the Trump changes to sanctions policy by singling out people, not just companies.

Treasury Assistant Secretary Marshall Billingslea told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week, for example, “The core of our approach is to leverage every tool available to us to impose costs upon those acting on or behalf of the Kremlin against U.S. interests, and to increase financial pressure on Russia to advance our national security priorities while simultaneously mitigating unnecessary impacts on the United States, our European allies, and the global economy.”

He noted that the EN+ stock dropped from $12.20 to $5.40 on the London Stock Exchange and that Deripaska’s net worth was cut in half.

And Sigal Mandelker, the Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, told the Senate Banking Committee this week that targeting Deripaska and several others on the Russian “Who’s Who” list “have made them radioactive, as we have made clear to the world that those who choose to continue to do business with them do so at their own peril.”

Under past sanction policies, said international trade officials, EN+ Group would have faced sanctions for a while that would have limited the access to U.S. markets and financing. Deripaska likely not been removed from the company, and allowed to keep his controlling stake and rights to future income.

But under the Trump policy, the company board and operation is being changed and Deripaska shown the door.

“It really is waving goodbye,” said the knowledgeable source. “This is a super smart Trump twist on the conventional sanctions. It shows that there’s a lot more street smarts, a business savvy understanding of how you can really use sanctions in a way that is much more effective that hits somebody that is close to Putin, an oligarch, somebody in that inner circle. But what it doesn’t do is have a long-term, disruptive effect on the global aluminum market. It will mean that jobs around the world to hardworking people aren’t jeopardized and that international trade can continue,” said the source.

“This is a much farther, smarter delivery of sanction policy,” added the source.

[Related: Senate ramps up Russia sanctions threat with dual hearings]