Swiss banks threatened to close accounts of Russian clients

Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse have started notifying their clients from Russia about the possible closure of their accounts in case of payment of taxes to the Russian budget. Several Russian clients have contacted the law office in connection with warnings received from bank employees about closing their accounts if they do not cease to be owners of companies registered in Russia and do not stop paying taxes.

There have been no official actions on the part of banks yet, and the actions of financial organizations are still selective, not mass, RBC clarifies, referring to lawyers working with Russian clients of Swiss banks. Representatives of banks say that they are forced to resort to such measures because of pressure from the Swiss authorities, parliamentary parties and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economics (SECO), which have again begun to talk about tightening control over the implementation of sanctions against Russia.

The Russian government approved in March last year a list of nominal sanctions against Swiss organizations and individuals. According to SECO, Russian assets worth 7.5 billion francs and 15 real estate objects have been frozen in Switzerland. Credit Suisse also froze Russian assets worth 17.6 billion Swiss francs, of which only 4 billion belong to persons included in the Swiss sanctions list. The remaining 13.6 billion are assets belonging to individuals who have been sanctioned in other countries, as well as funds from the Bank of Russia and the state.