Washington has reportedly warned Austria\u2019s banking giant Raiffeisen over its operations in Russia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austria\u2019s Raiffeisen Bank International, the biggest foreign lender in Russia, risks \u201cbeing cut off from the US financial system\u201d if it is found to have helped fund Russia\u2019s military, according to the US Treasury Department, as cited by Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs part of Washington\u2019s renewed push on sanctions, it would encourage Austrian banks to examine their Russian exposure and \u2018take mitigation measures\u2019,\u201d US top Treasury official Anna Morris said earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raiffeisen has confirmed discussions with the US on potential sanctions for doing business in Russia, the EUobserver news website reported on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The banking giant did not provide further details, saying that it does not usually \u201ccomment publicly on discussions with representatives of authorities, as a matter of principle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raiffeisen is one of the last major Western lenders still operating in Russia. The bank is one of only two foreign banks on the Russian central bank\u2019s list of 13 systemically important credit institutions, the other being Italy\u2019s UniCredit. Dutch lender ING, Germany\u2019s Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, Hungary\u2019s OTP Bank, Italy\u2019s Intesa SanPaolo, and Sweden\u2019s SEB also retain a presence on the Russian market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, the Austrian lender announced plans to spin off its Russian business by September, following mounting pressure from Western governments. The RBI Group that owns the bank has been resisting demands from the US and EU to speed up its Russia exit. The European Central Bank (ECB) has also been pressuring the lender to quit the Russian market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Treasury officials have also briefed German financiers on the new sanctions threat, according to Commerzbank, which conducts corporate banking for mostly German companies active in Russia, as cited by EUobserver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked if it feared potential US penalties, the German lender said it \u201ctreats sanctions compliance with the utmost importance and has taken risk-based measures to reduce its Russia-related sanctions risk exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, ING told the news outlet that the new US rules meant \u201cbanks can be sanctioned or denied access to the US-dollar clearing system for a certain period of time, provided the bank has facilitated significant transactions that benefited the Russian military branch.\u201d The Dutch bank, however, sees no risk, as it \u201ccomplies with all international sanctions laws including UN, EU, and OFAC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n