Vekselberg wins lawsuit against PostFinance bank

The Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg reportedly lives in Switzerland and is the founder and owner of the investment company Renova and holds shares in the listed Swiss companies OC Oerlikon and Sulzer. Keystone / Alexander Ryumin

A Swiss court has ruled that the state-owned PostFinance bank should not have refused an account to the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who reportedly lives in Switzerland and faces US sanctions.

The Swiss Federal Court has ruled that PostFinance, a financial unit of the Swiss Post, violated the law when it closed the bank account belonging to Vekselberg at the end of 2018.

The Russian billionaire filed a lawsuit following PostFinance’s decision to close his account shortly after opening it in October 2018, and other Swiss banks refused to take his business after he was added to the US sanctions list that year. In 2020 a Bern trade court ruled against Vekselberg, who then appealed.

The decisionExternal link published on Thursday by Switzerland’s highest court said PostFinance should not have closed his account based on the rules in place at the time. The bank was obliged to provide certain universal payment services, it said.

The ruling obliges PostFinance to “maintain the business relationship with Vekselberg and to continue the postal account in Swiss francs with the number 15-174627-7”. PostFinance also has to bear the court costs of CHF8,000 ($8,700) and pay Vekselberg compensation of CHF9,000.

Since 2021, a Swiss derogation rule states that the opening of a bank account may be refused or a business relationship may be terminated “if compliance with financial markets, money laundering or embargo legislation would involve a disproportionate effort”.

The Russian billionaire reportedlyExternal link lives in Switzerland and is the founder and owner of the investment company Renova and holds shares in the listed Swiss companies OC Oerlikon and Sulzer. He had argued that he needed an account in Switzerland to be able to pay bills, taxes and live a normal life.

However, PostFinance’s legal team had argued that there was a clause in the bank’s mandate allowing it to exclude clients in certain cases, including if they posed a serious legal or reputational risk.

Vekselberg was among a number of Russian oligarchs, officials and companies targeted with US sanctions in April 2018.

Former President Donald Trump’s administration said the measures were aimed at punishing Russia for actions that included election interference and its support of the Syrian government. 

Vekselberg told Forbes magazine last year that he had had more than $1.5 billion worth of foreign assets frozen as a result of the US sanctions.