European banks have started blocking Russians' transfers around the world

European banks and fintech services have begun blocking transfers to the accounts of Russians who permanently reside in other countries, even before the decision to include Russia in the list of high-risk countries came into force. Oninvest is aware of several such cases.

At the end of December, the French bank BNP Paribas blocked the transfer of money to a Russian woman with a French residence permit. For the last year and a half, the Oninvest interviewee had been receiving her salary to her account with BNP Paribas from her employer in Kazakhstan, but at the end of December 2025, the typical transfer was rejected. The bank manager left a message for the client saying that the transaction was blocked by BNP Paribas compliance due to the transaction's connection to Russia. The bank did not provide any other details or explanation of this decision.

A similar case occurred with another Oninvest interviewee who lives in France under a residence permit. He also did not receive money from a source in Kazakhstan. The reason for the refusal was not specified by the receiving bank, Société Générale.

The British fintech service Wise refused to transfer the salary of a Russian woman who had been living in Latvia for several years and had previously received money transfers to Wise. The fintech service requested proof of legal residence in the EU and canceled the transfer after receiving a package of documents, including a valid residence permit.

A similar situation was encountered by a Russian woman who has lived in Israel for 12 years, but who worked remotely under a contract in which her Russian tax number and telephone number were specified. According to her, Wise had also previously asked her for proof of residence outside Russia, but had not blocked her transfers. In December, while waiting for a transfer, she received a letter stating that her account was "under scrutiny due to sanctions." Following the results of the check, Wise returned the transfer to the sender.

Both Wise customers received a letter from the service stating that the company no longer "processes payments directly or indirectly related" to Russia, Belarus, eastern Ukraine and Crimea, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.

Oninvest got acquainted with the texts of these letters, as well as screenshots of correspondence between the interlocutors and the banks' support service. The editorial staff sent a request to BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Wise.

Another round of tightening of bank compliance against Russians and any persons associated with Russia has begun following the European Commission's decision to include Russia in the list of high-risk countries with "strategic weaknesses in anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism" (AML/CFT) systems. The EU announced the decision itself on December 3, 2025.

The decision was taken in fulfillment of the European Commission's obligations to complete an assessment of the AML/CFT systems of states whose membership in FATF (an intergovernmental group that develops standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing) has been suspended. FATF itself suspended Russia's membership in February 2023 for "gross violation of obligations of international cooperation and mutual respect," condemning Russia's military actions in Ukraine. Its "black" list includes DPRK, Myanmar, and Iran. The "gray" list includes 20 other countries. But Russia is not on any of them.

The European Commission gave the European Council and the European Parliament a month to submit objections, but none were received. The decision itself should enter into force on January 29, 2026.

Formally, only banks and financial organizations of the 27 EU member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, will be obliged to adjust their compliance policies with respect to Russians. In practice, countries that apply or integrate EU directives, such as Switzerland, San Marino, Andorra, as well as companies with holding structures and headquarters in the EU or correspondent accounts in EU banks, will also have to comply with the new requirements, lawyers told Oninvest earlier.

Russia's inclusion in the list does not mean a ban on financial transactions for Russians through EU banks, but it does mean increased scrutiny of all their transactions, the European Commission explained to The Bell.

But it will become more difficult for Russians to conduct transactions through EU banks, according to lawyers interviewed by Oninvest. "If earlier such checks could be qualified as 'overcompliance', now it will become a legitimate basic minimum. The European Commission's decision strengthens controls rather than introducing something fundamentally new. But it makes the system mandatory and more universal for all EU financial institutions," says FTL Advisers partner Maria Cook.

However, some banks have begun to sever relations with clients with ties to Russia. For example, the Ugryumochnaya telegram channel reported a case it knew of where Portuguese Novobanco refused to service a client "who was born in Russia", regardless of whether such a client had a valid EU residence permit. Oninvest sent an inquiry to Novobanco.

Financial consultant Natalia Smirnova suggests that Russians living in the EU may face not only additional checks and questions about the source of capital, business partners, and the nature of transactions, but also refusals to open new accounts for themselves or their companies or to close existing ones. In such a case, she advises having a cash reserve, bank or brokerage accounts in friendly jurisdictions and supporting documents, as well as avoiding sub-sanctioned banks in the funds flow chain and not having income in Russia.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor