The United States’ sanctions authority has launched an inquiry into Raiffeisen Bank International over its business related to Russia, increasing scrutiny of the Austrian lender that plays a critical role in the Russian economy.
Responding to questions from Reuters, the bank said it had received a request from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in January to “clarify payments business and related processes maintained by RBI in light of the recent developments related to Russia and Ukraine.”
OFAC had asked Raiffeisen for details of its exposure in Russia, the partially occupied Donbas, Ukraine and Syria, including about the transactions and activity of certain clients, a source told Reuters.
Raiffeisen has not been sanctioned in the past, but the January information request is worrying European financial regulators responsible for oversight of the bank because of the potential that it could ultimately lead to penalties against Raiffeisen.
Raiffeisen is deeply embedded in the Russian financial system and is one of the only two foreign banks on the Russian central bank’s list of 13 “systemically important credit institutions”.
Johann Strobl, Raiffeisen’s CEO, told shareholders in March that he is examining options for the Russian business, but reaching a conclusion would take some time because the bank is not “a sausage stand” that could be closed overnight.
Raiffeisen made a net profit of roughly 3.8 billion euros last year, thanks in large part to a 2 billion euro plus profit from its Russia business.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
