UK fines Citibank’s London branch £4.7M for breaching Russia sanctions

Citibank’s London branch just got handed a £4,732,830.58 penalty by the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation for repeatedly violating Russia sanctions. The fine, imposed on August 11 and publicly announced on September 2, covers hundreds of prohibited transactions that flowed through the bank’s systems after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. 970 payments, £19.72 million, one very slow compliance system OFSI’s investigation found that Citibank N.A. London Branch processed 970 payments totaling approximately £19.72 million in violation of sanctions that prohibit dealing with frozen funds or making money available to designated individuals. The bulk of those transactions took place between February and November 2022, a period when Western governments were rapidly designating Russian individuals and entities. Some of the violations stretched all the way into 2025. Those later breaches primarily involved corporate clients linked to a designated Russian individual and transactions connected to PJSC Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company. Internal bank charges on restricted accounts also contributed to the tally. OFSI was clear that Citibank didn’t intend to bre...