YEREVAN, December 22. /ARКА/. Banks in Armenia and Serbia have tightened checks on Russian transactions following Russia’s inclusion on the EU’s money laundering blacklist, RBC reports, citing lawyers and international business consultants.
They say they are encountering problems with transactions conducted through “certain credit institutions” in these two countries.
Experts noted that the banks’ policy change occurred in December, the same month the European Commission added Russia to its list of countries with an increased risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.
Politico reported at the time that Russia’s inclusion on the EU’s blacklist would force financial institutions to step up scrutiny of all transactions and force banks to take additional steps to mitigate risks.
According to Irina Sarkisova, Deputy Director of Kept’s Cross-Border Payments Advisory Practice, Russia’s inclusion on the EC’s blacklist is having a cascading effect on banks in friendly countries, especially those that maintain active correspondent relationships with European financial institutions and conduct transactions in euros.
“Banks have further strengthened their compliance procedures: payment processing times have increased, and additional documents are often requested, including statements confirming that individuals and legal entities are not on sanctions lists,” Sarkisova noted in an interview with RBC.
According to Forbes, Ivan Tikhonenok, Head of Banking at the law firm Amond&Smith, noted that AMIO Bank in Armenia has stopped processing outgoing payments in dollars and euros for Russians residing in Russia and not holding a second passport or residence permit, while Unibank has imposed similar restrictions on outgoing payments.
Some Armenian banks have indeed become more cautious about outgoing payments in dollars and euros for Russian citizens residing in Russia, confirmed Andrey Gusev, senior partner at Nordic Star law firm.
However, he noted that these aren’t formal bans, but rather transaction suspensions, additional checks, or refusals, which are explained by tightened anti-money laundering controls and correspondent bank requirements in the EU and the US. The EC’s decision hasn’t yet formally entered into force, but the financial market traditionally responds to such initiatives in advance, Gusev explained.-0-
