Julius Bär to cut ties with Russian clients by 2024

Julius Bär already said in March 2022 it was halting any new business with wealthy Russians. Keystone / Steffen Schmidt

Swiss private bank Julius Bär will end all business with clients based in Russia, it told them in a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The bank will cease business with clients domiciled in Russia by no later than December 31, the letter said, while wealth management activities such as mandates managing clients’ investments, credit agreements and credit card contracts, would be terminated by the end of September.

Julius Bär declined to comment.

The move comes as Swiss banks, hubs for offshore wealth, have entered the crosshairs of authorities, who have been using sanctions, asset freezes and criminal probes to pressure Russia’s wealthy elite and reduce support for President Vladimir Putin.

+ Read more: Swiss say they are model enforcers of Russia sanctions

In March, Bloomberg reported that Switzerland’s two biggest banks at the time – Credit Suisse and UBS – were under scrutiny in a US Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into whether financial professionals helped Russian oligarchs evade sanctions.

Credit Suisse has since been taken over by UBS, making Julius Baer the second-largest of Switzerland’s listed lenders.

In a deviation from its traditional neutrality, Switzerland moved in March 2022 to adopt sanctions that the European Union (EU) imposed on Russian people and companies and freeze their assets to punish the invasion of Ukraine.

It has since continued to widen sanctions in line with EU moves.

As of November 25, 2022, Switzerland had frozen some CHF7.5 billion ($8.63 billion) in related financial assets, the agency overseeing sanctions said in December, compared to some CHF46.1 billion in existing deposits held by Russian nationals and Russian-domiciled persons.

+ Read more: Switzerland’s secrecy blind spot hinders sanctions enforcement

In March 2022 Julius Bär said it was halting any new business with wealthy Russians, as European lenders worked to limit their exposure to Russia’s elite.

Forbes Russia in May reported that Julius Baer had told Russian and Belarusian clients that their investment accounts would be frozen due to requirements from clearing house Euroclear.