Austrian authorities suspected Raiffeisen Bank of money laundering due to payments from the Russian Federation

Austria’s financial regulator is investigating Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) for violating anti-money laundering regulations, its annual report said. According to the source Reutersthe audit concerns payments involving Russia and is linked to data from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists as part of the Cyprus Confidential project.

The investigation is subject to the “know your client” rule. This is a security mechanism that is needed to prevent money laundering. The regulator is checking payments from three clients that were made in 2017–2020. The bank was informed of the investigation in January 2023.

A bank spokesman told Reuters the bank would appeal any punishment, although it had not yet been handed down. The annual report said the investigation could lead to fines.

The annual report also provides an update on the investigation by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The RBI said the U.S. regulator was examining the bank’s payments business with U.S. correspondent banks “in light of developments related to Russia and Ukraine.” It is noted that violation of US sanctions may lead to fines, freezing of accounts or termination of business relations with US correspondent banks.

Raiffeisenbank has been operating in Russia since 1996 and is now considered one of the largest Western banks that has not yet left the Russian market. Raiffeisen Bank International in a press release on the results of 2023 reported, which continued to reduce Russian business. Lending volume has decreased by 56% since the second quarter of 2022. The profit of Raiffeisen Bank International in the Russian Federation in 2023 fell by 35%.

About the bank’s activities in the Russian Federation – in the material “Kommersant” “RBI reduces profits from Russia”.

Leonid Uvarchev