The US removed the former European subsidiary of VTB from sanctions – Kommersant


US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) brought out from sanctions imposed in February 2022, the former European subsidiary of VTB Bank (MOEX: VTBR) - German VTB Bank Europe. In the department’s statement, the credit institution appears under two more names: VTB Bank Deutschland AG and Ost-West Handelsbank AG. In 2023, the former subsidiary of VTB changed its name to OWH SE (from the previous Ost-West Handelsbank).

German authorities established control over VTB Bank Europe in April 2022 and prohibited VTB from exercising shareholder rights. The decision was made due to EU sanctions. In November last year, a credit institution changed name, since VTB head office prohibited the use of the former. In February 2024 VTB received from OWH SE a notice of intention to deprive the bank of its ownership rights. VTB considered such actions aggressive and promised a symmetrical response.

As of April 2023, OWH SE began the process of winding down operations by terminating all remaining business relationships with clients. The liquidation process, the bank noted, could take several years. Meanwhile, VTB filed two lawsuits against its former “daughter” last year. The first concerns the recovery of €112.6 million stuck in the bank’s correspondent account after the imposition of sanctions. The second is a ban on filing lawsuits in foreign courts.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Where I was born, I sued there”.

Lusine Balasyan



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