The UK government has fined Citibank’s London branch £4.73 million for violating financial sanctions imposed against Russia.
Jnews.az reports that according to the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), CBNA London branch made a total of 970 payments in breach of the sanctions regime. The total value of these transactions amounted to £19.7 million.
Transactions in violation of sanctions
OFSI stated that the majority of the violations occurred between February and November 2022, during the period when large-scale sanctions were in force following the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Some of the payments made by the bank were linked to Russia’s state-owned company Sovcomflot, as well as sanctioned Alfa-Bank, Gazprombank, and Credit Bank of Moscow.
OFSI stated that it did not consider CBNA London branch to have intentionally violated sanctions. However, the agency emphasized that the errors and deficiencies occurring across various business areas and systems of the bank were of a serious nature.
Citibank stated that it cooperated with the investigation and continues to invest in sanctions compliance control systems.
Source: jpost.com
