Swiss banks continue to accept payments from Russians if they exceed $10 million - Forbes

Although Switzerland has tightened the rules for banking services for Russian citizens, some of the country's banks continue to accept large transfers in rubles from Russia.

Source. This was reported by the Russian Forbes with reference to its sources.

According to one of the interlocutors, the transfer of rubles becomes possible if the amount exceeds $10 million. To do this, the client calls his manager, who coordinates such a transaction within the bank with specialists who monitor its compliance with legal requirements. Then the rubles are exchanged for the currency to be deposited in the same bank. A fee of 0.2-0.4% of the total amount is charged for such a transaction.

The sources Forbes spoke to did not name specific banks that carry out such transfers, but one of them admitted that he knew at least two of them, which are among the ten largest in Switzerland.

In March, Swiss banks began closing accounts of clients with Russian citizenship. This was due to the fact that financial institutions do not want to spend time and money on complex additional checks on the legitimacy of transactions carried out by such people.

In 2023, clients of Swiss banks with Russian citizenship faced the blocking of their accounts. The reason for this could have been doing business in Russia and paying taxes there.

At the same time, it became known that in 2023, Switzerland lifted restrictions on previously blocked Russian assets worth CHF 290 million (about $318 million), as "no grounds for further blocking were found".

According to experts, it is likely that restrictions will continue to be lifted on assets owned by private individuals, and then the money will be transferred outside European jurisdictions.