UAE banks have limited settlements with Russia and started closing accounts of Russians

Banks of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), due to the risk of secondary sanctions, limited settlements with Russia and began to close accounts for companies and individuals.

The trend was confirmed by tax and legal consultants. The government of the Russian Federation is aware of the problem, although they consider it non-critical and solvable, a source close to the Cabinet of Ministers told the publication.

“Currently UAE banks do not accept money from Russia and do not make payments in the opposite direction.”

According to him, UAE banks continue to close accounts of companies whose owners are Russian citizens, “including for opaque reasons.”

It will be noted that UAE banks began to tighten their policies towards clients with Russian citizenship in the fall of 2023. Then credit institutions stopped accepting payments from Russia.

“We had to add a bank in Hong Kong to the payment chain, but since February 2024 it has refused to cooperate; payments are now carried out in cryptocurrency.

For companies with Russian beneficiaries that do not receive money from Russia and do not transfer it to Russia, the situation with banking services has become more complicated,” the publication’s interlocutors said.

Vedomosti notes that UAE banks introduced restrictions for Russian clients before the US announced secondary sanctions in December 2023. The newspaper's sources suggest that this may be due to the significant share of foreign shareholders in large credit institutions.

The publication's interlocutors noted that it is still possible to open an account in UAE banks for individuals or legal entities from Russia, but the procedure takes more time, and personal acquaintances with representatives of the local elite can speed it up.