A number of large Swiss banks have started to charge commissions on frozen assets of Russian clients, sometimes several years in advance, Vedomosti daily reports citing unnamed financial market sources. "The idea [behind the commission] is that there is an account, it must be serviced, no matter that a person cannot use the service, in fact it is still provided," sources told the daily.
As followed by bne IntelliNews, in a sharp deviation from its long-standing tradition of neutrality, Switzerland has mirrored all sanctions against Russia that have been adopted by the EU since the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Previous reports suggested that a number of Swiss banks had begun to monitor the transfers of their clients from Russia. Most recently Julius Baer has reportedly notified Russian clients that all business relations with them will be terminated no later than December 31.
The Swiss bank UBS could close up to 75% of accounts of Russian clients it has inherited after the recent bail-out of another Swiss peer, Credit Suisse, The Bell wrote in August citing Swiss NZZ am Sonntag.
While indeed under pressure from regulators the Swiss banks are gradually getting rid of Russian clients, they continue to serve some large and very large clients, lawyers told Vedomosti.
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