Bank Of Cyprus Will Close Accounts Of About 4,000 Customers From Russia

Bank of Cyprus, the largest bank in Cyprus, intends to close the accounts of about 4,000 customers who have Russian citizenship and are not residents of the European Union.

It was reported by the online publication Forbes.ua, referring to RBC.

"Bank of Cyprus notified 4 thousand customers who have a Russian passport and are not residents of the EU countries that their accounts will be closed in accordance with the customer acceptance policy and the corresponding risk exposure," the bank said.

The financial institution noted that the deposits of the mentioned clients make up less than 0.5% of the total deposits of the bank.

As of December 31, 2021, citizens of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation and Belarus owned 3% of the deposits of a credit institution.

The reason for the closure of accounts was the suspension of the membership of the Russian Federation in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The reason for this was the United Nations General Assembly resolution, which put forward a demand for Moscow to "completely and unconditionally withdraw all its armed forces from the territory of Ukraine."

Earlier, the bank informed customers about the refusal to service accounts in connection with concerns about the sanctions of the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Note that FATF is an association of 39 countries for combating the laundering of "dirty" money and the financing of terrorism, which includes the United States, Germany, China, as well as Russia. The Association assesses the compliance of national systems with these standards. It was founded in 1989, the headquarters is located in the city of Paris. The plenary session of the FATF during which decisions are made is held three times a year.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in February the FATF suspended Russia's membership.