On 21/02/2024, the informational portal of the newspaper “Izvestia” published a commentary by Alexander Linnikov on the recent decision of three largest banks in China to discontinue operations with Russian credit organizations subjected to restrictive measures by the EU and the US.
As it became known, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank (CCB), and Bank of China have indeed ceased working with Russian banks that are under sanctions by the EU and the US. ICBC and CCB reject payments coming from “sanctioned” Russian banks, regardless of the system through which they are conducted—be it the international SWIFT system, the Russian SPFS, or the Chinese CIPS.
“Leading banks even from so-called friendly countries refrain from opening accounts for Russian clients and stop processing payments. The reason may be that Chinese and Middle Eastern credit organizations fear the imposition of secondary sanctions by the US due to their interaction with ‘sanctioned’ banks and companies from the Russian Federation. It is no secret that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury consistently conducts explanatory work with financial institutions worldwide and issues strict warnings about the undesirability of cooperation with Russian clients,” says Alexander Linnikov.
