Russian citizens who have citizenship of Great Britain, Andorra or Monaco or residence permits in these countries may keep more than 100 thousand francs (about €100 thousand or about $106 thousand) in the accounts in Swiss banks. This is stated in a document published on the website of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland. It was brought to the attention of Forbes.
“Citizens of Monaco, Andorra or the United Kingdom and individuals with temporary or permanent residence permits in Monaco, Andorra or the United Kingdom are not subject to the ban under Article 20,” reads the text of the document.
This refers to Article 20 of the decree on measures imposed by Switzerland in connection with the Russian special operation in Ukraine (“Ban on deposits and crypto-assets”). According to this article, local banks are forbidden to accept deposits from Russian individuals and legal entities, Russian banks, if the amount of the deposit exceeds 100 thousand francs. The article says that the measure does not cover people with double citizenship, one of which is in Switzerland or one of the countries of the European Economic Area (it includes all EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein).
At the end of February, after the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the EU imposed similar restrictions on deposits in European banks for Russians and Russian companies, and banned the sale and purchase of securities in euros. In addition, European depositories were banned from providing any services to Russian citizens and organizations for the sale of securities issued after April 12, 2022.
In addition, major Russian banks, including VTB and Sberbank, fell under the sanctions, which include blocking of assets and transactions in the currency of the states that joined this campaign. Some credit institutions not under sanctions faced forced closure of correspondent accounts with foreign banks.
Switzerland supported the EU sanctions against Russia and aligned its own sanctions lists with those of Europe.