In Europe, ordinary Russians are shunned by wary banks

Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank Polski SA

14/02/2025 07:00

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      Banks close accounts or refuse to open new ones
    

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      Thousands of Russian expats affected across EU
    

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      Russians in EU left struggling to make, receive payments
    

  
    By Francesco Canepa and Anton Zverev
       FRANKFURT/LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - When Svetlana
Sarantseva moved to Portugal from Singapore in 2021, she was
looking forward to starting a family and working as a nutrition
coach on the Azores archipelago.
    Having left her native Russia 30 years earlier, little did
she imagine that sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine war
would turn something as mundane as opening a bank account into
an ordeal.
    Sarantseva is one of thousands of Russians living in the
European Union who have struggled to open a bank account or had
one closed since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine -
even though they are not subject to any sanctions themselves. 
    While wary banks increase scrutiny of anyone with a Russian
passport, their zeal runs up against EU rules stating that all
the bloc's legal residents are entitled to a basic account.
    Reuters has spoken to around two dozen Russian expats or
their lawyers, in countries from Portugal to Finland. They
include students, a mother of two who has lived in Germany for
20 years and two Russian opposition activists.
    The reasons banks provide for denying service vary.
    Sarantseva has contacted six banks since April 2022. She was
told by online bank Moey! that only Portuguese citizens could
open an account. Rival N26 wrote she could not have a joint
account with her German husband due to her nationality.
Bankinter cited a "lack of commercial interest".
    "I knew they would ask a lot of questions but I never
expected I'd be rejected," the 45-year-old told Reuters on a 
video call.
    Asked to comment, N26 said it "must adhere to strict
industry standards and guidelines, which vary depending on
nationality". Moey! confirmed that it only works with Portuguese
nationals but said its brick-and-mortar parent Credito Agricola
serves "a wider range of residents". Both banks declined to
comment on individual customers. 
    Bankinter did not respond to a request for comment.
    Those affected are far removed from the wealthy Russians who
stashed billions of euros offshore in Cypriot banks until a
decade ago, leading to 160,000 account closures since, according
to the Cypriot Association of Commercial Banks.
    Left with no way of collecting their salary or transferring
money, the Russians struggling to open accounts have borrowed
from friends and family or even used cryptocurrencies to get by.
    Those that do obtain an account have often had to go to
great lengths, for example by paying for lawyers to plead their
case. 
    Citizens from countries such as Iran and Syria, also
targeted by sanctions, have long faced a similar plight but for
Russians the problem is new.
    Gera Ugryumova, head of human rights group Iskra in Italy,
said her organisation has helped reverse some 5,000 bank
decisions against Russians and prepare court cases against 42
lenders since the Ukraine war started. 
    
    TURNED DOWN
    In Poland on a humanitarian visa, Russian opposition
activist Yuri Vasiliev has tried to open an account with PKO
Bank Polski, Mbank and the local units of Santander  SAN.MC ,
Credit Agricole  CAGR.PA  and Citibank  C.N . They all turned
him down.
    "Some said it was because of sanctions, some said because of
an internal order, some demanded a residence permit, not just a
visa," the 28-year-old said.
    Credit Agricole Bank Poland said there was no rule barring
Russian citizens but it "may refuse to open an account" under
laws against money laundering and terrorism financing. 
    The other four banks did not respond to requests for
comment.
    A European Commission directive gives all legal residents
the right to a bank account, regardless of whether they hold a
residence permit or only a visa. Subsequent guidance specifies
this includes Russians. 
    Separately, Russians and Belarusians face a 100,000 euro
deposit cap as part of sanctions against their countries unless
they have a residence permit.
    These partly overlapping rules may be making banks overly
cautious, lawyers told Reuters. 
    "We think that banks' legal departments are too nervous
about not complying with the sanctions," said Katja Fohrer, a
lawyer at German firm Mattil.
    The European Commission said it was aware of 
    Sarantseva's husband, Stefan Zwanzger, complained to
regulators and politicians in Portugal and his native Germany
before finally managing to open a Portuguese account for his
wife after reaching out to banking executives on social media.
    Germany's financial regulator told Reuters it received
hundreds of complaints every year from people who were turned
down by banks and thousands about accounts being closed, but it
did not keep a record of the nationality of the complainants.
    Banco de Portugal said there was no blanket ban on Russian
customers who aren't under sanctions, "without prejudice to
(banks') internal risk management policies".
    The European Commission said it had not received many such 
complaints from Russian citizens but, when it did, it had
followed them up with national authorities.

 (Additional reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki and Michele
Kambas in Nicosia; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
 ((@FranCanJourno francesco.canepa@thomsonreuters.com;
004906975651247; Reuters Messaging:
francesco.canepa.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))