UK sanctions authorities have penalized Deutsche Bank’s London branch £165,000 ($221,154) after the lender handled payments linked to a sanctioned Russian-owned company.
The Financial Sanctions Implementation Office, part of Her Majesty’s Treasury, said the case concerned payments made in 2022 for a client to Okko, a Russian video streaming platform owned by JSC New Opportunities, an entity under UK sanctions.
The bank had relied in part on a third-party vendor for sanctions assessment at the time and the deal failed to identify issues related to Okko’s ownership.
The regulator said: “(Deutsche) remains ultimately responsible for ensuring that it acts in compliance with financial sanctions when processing payments on behalf of its customers.”
The sanction comes shortly after Deutsche referred it to EU authorities for possible violations of sanctions rules involving Russian clients.
The bank found cases in its retail division where deposits exceeding €100,000 had been accepted from people covered by EU sanctions restrictions.
Deutsche’s disclosure of Okko’s transactions to OFSI meant it received a reduction in the fine.
In March, OFSI also fined Apple’s European subsidiary for Okko-related payments, the Financial Times reported.
Okko belonged to Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, from August 2018 to May 2022.
She was then transferred to New Opportunities, a Moscow-based company created just weeks earlier. The United Kingdom sanctioned New Opportunities in June 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Deutsche arranged two payments to Okko in June and July 2022 worth a combined £636,000.
Civil penalties imposed by OFSI are rare – fewer than 20 have been issued since 2019. In January, the regulator also fined Lloyds Banking Group for opening an account for an associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Deutsche said: “After identifying two payments to a Russian entity that had become affiliated with a sanctioned entity, we voluntarily disclosed this to OFSI. Deutsche Bank takes sanctions compliance extremely seriously.
“We have strengthened and continue to strengthen all aspects of our sanctions compliance framework and associated processes.”
“UK fines Deutsche Bank over Russian sanctions breach” was created and originally published by Private Banker International, a brand owned by GlobalData.
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