The Arbitration Court in Moscow ordered Alfa-Bank to pay the client 4.2 million rubles blocked due to sanctions

The Moscow Arbitration Court ordered Alfa-Bank to pay the client 4.2 million rubles, which were blocked due to US sanctions in April 2022. The decision to this effect has entered into force. RAPSI with reference to the file of arbitration cases. The Ninth Court of Appeal upheld this decision.

According to the case file, the plaintiff Pivoindustriya LLC instructed Alfa-Bank to transfer $49,624 to the account of a foreign counterparty on April 5, 2022. On the same day, the money arrived at JPMorgan Chase & Co. On April 6, Alfa-Bank came under blocking US sanctions, and the US Treasury also issued a general license to complete all transactions with the bank that had begun before that date.

As noted in the court decision, the sanctions against Alfa-Bank did not apply to the payment of “Pivoindustriya”, but its execution was suspended by the foreign correspondent bank JPMorgan Chase Bank. According to the decision, Alfa-Bank did not provide evidence that it took action to compel JPMorgan Chase & Co to execute the payment.

“The adverse consequences of JPMorgan Chase & Co’s failure to fulfill its obligations to Alfa-Bank JSC to make bank transfers should not be borne by the plaintiff,” the court’s decision says.

Olesya Pavlenko