German banks have carried out another wave of account freezes, depriving Russians of access to their funds. This was reported by the news outlet Deutsche Welle (DW), citing eyewitnesses holding \u201cRussian passports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russians complain that banks are freezing accounts and sending letters demanding that they provide residence permits within 14 days. Several clients of Sparkasse K\u00f6ln-Bonn, among others, reportedly faced this issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cGermans\u201d with Russian passports say they have lived in the country for decades and have long used banking services there. However, if they also hold a German passport, the issue is reportedly resolved.<\/p>\n
Sparkasse also denied a mortgage to a German citizen because the apartment seller held Russian citizenship. The bank referred to Russia\u2019s inclusion on the list of high-risk countries for money laundering and terrorist financing.<\/p>\n
Clients are also facing account restrictions at other German banks. At Commerzbank and the neobank N26, restrictions are reportedly introduced even in cases where there is merely a \u201cRussian connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
The European Commission had previously clarified that sanctions should not apply to Russians holding residence permits, permanent residency, or citizenship of EU, European Economic Area, or Swiss states, the media outlet noted. Restrictions also should not apply to holders of long-term Type D visas.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s Finance Ministry stated that the primary responsibility for compliance with sanctions lies with the banks themselves. The Bundesbank noted that account freezes may be applied both within the framework of sanctions and as anti-money-laundering measures.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency told DW that it does not consider such practices to constitute direct discrimination.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of the year, problems with bank transfers and opening accounts have been reported in various countries. The list of banks involved is extensive \u2014 including BNP Paribas and Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale in France, as well as Millennium BCP, Santander Totta, and Novo Banco in Portugal.<\/p>\n
Wise has reportedly begun returning transfers, while Revolut has been blocking accounts of Russian citizens even if they hold EU residency permits. In the Latvian branch of Swedbank, one client was reportedly subjected to an \u201cinterrogation\u201d because of her Russian citizenship.<\/p>\n
Attorney Hendrik M\u00fcller-Lankow of the Kronsteyn group told DW that such freezes are most often related to anti-money-laundering legislation.<\/p>\n
According to him, banks are now trying to do more than required due to the threat of large fines, while Russian citizenship has become a circumstance that significantly increases perceived risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":151593,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-151592","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/151592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=151592"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=151592"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=151592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}