“Banks force clients with assets less than 5 million dollars to close their accounts. In case of refusal, the client must pay a subscription fee for account maintenance. It amounts to about a thousand Swiss francs per month,” says one banker.
According to another banker, last year such a policy of Swiss banks already affected clients from Russia, but then clients with accounts less than 3 million dollars experienced difficulties. Some clients got into unpleasant situations because banks notified of their decision by mail. “Many Russian clients received paper notifications in special rented boxes in Switzerland,” explains the banker. “Naturally, no one checks the mail in them every day, and clients for three to four months did not know about the bank’s decision and were forced to pay a fee.”
Russians' problems with foreign banks began last spring, when as a result of the annexation of Crimea, Russia fell under international sanctions. As the publication notes, clients from Russia are not the first to experience problems with Swiss banks. For example, in 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported that Credit Suisse was closing accounts of clients from countries under sanctions, in particular Angola, Turkmenistan and Belarus. According to bankers, in this way credit organizations minimize risks and shift focus to servicing larger accounts.