JPMorgan terminated correspondent accounts with Rosselkhozbank on its own initiative – Kommersant

The American bank JPMorgan, which processed part of the payments for the export of Russian agricultural products, terminated correspondent relations with Rosselkhozbank on its own initiative. This was announced by the head of the State Department’s Sanctions Coordination Bureau, James O’Brien, noting that the decision was made contrary to the wishes of the administration of US President Joe Biden.

“It was JPMorgan’s decision, and in fact we made it clear to the Russian side that if they could show signs that they were coming back to the deal, it would be much easier to keep this payment system going,” Mr O’Brien told the agency. Reuters.

According to an unnamed source, JPMorgan initially agreed to carry out these payment transactions at the request of the US government. James O’Brien clarified that the administration did not encourage the bank’s desire to sever correspondent relations. “We called on them to be patient if Russia gives any sign,” he said.

Reuters in April reportedthat the US Office of Foreign Assets Control has authorized JP Morgan to process payments from Rosselkhozbank. At the same time, the permit was issued for a “very limited and strictly controlled” transaction for the export of agricultural products.

How reported Representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, correspondent relations between Rosselkhozbank and JP Morgan were severed on August 2. A direct channel between credit institutions was conceived as an alternative to the SWIFT system – one of Russia’s key conditions for resuming the grain deal from which it came out July 17th.

Lusine Balasyan