A Latvian resident spent three years programming for a Russian company and received more than €60,000 on an Alfa Bank card. Now he <a href="https://vdd.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/vdd-seeks-criminal-prosecution-against-a-person-for-providing-programming-services-to-a-company-in-russia">faces</a> criminal prosecution for violating EU sanctions against Russia. Oninvest found out how the Latvian State Security Service managed to find the programmer.

€60,000 in cash: how Latvia found out a programmer who worked for a Russian company

Switzerland's financial market regulator (FINMA) <a href="https://www.finma.ch/en/news/2026/02/20260227-mm-mbaer-liquidation/">said</a> on Feb. 27 that it had begun the process of liquidating MBaer Merchant Bank after Washington <a href="https://oninvest.com/article/ssa-namereny-otklucit-svejcarskij-bank-ot-finansovoj-sistemy-za-svazi-s-iranom-i-rf">threatened to</a> deny the Swiss private bank access to the U.S. financial system for violating sanctions against Iran, Russia and Venezuela.

Switzerland has closed a bank that the U.S. has accused of having ties to Iran and Russia

Bank Hapoalim B.M.

Bank Leumi le-Israel B.M.

Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd.

Israel Discount Bank Limited

Israeli banks have stepped up checks on the tax residency of repatriates from the Russian Federation. The banks either ask clients to prove that the center of their life interests is now in Israel, or independently recognize their Russian tax residency, inviting the client to appeal at once. It is not worth ignoring the banks' requests, otherwise data on Israeli accounts and cards will be received by the Federal Tax Service as part of an auto-exchange of information, financial advisers warn.

Banks in Israel check repatriates for Russian tax residency: what are the risks?

Swiss MBaer Merchant Bank may lose access to the U.S. financial system due to alleged ties to Iran and Russia, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-26/us-says-swiss-bank-mbaer-could-lose-access-to-financial-system?embedded-checkout=true">writes </a>. According <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0408">to the </a>U.S. Treasury Department, its financial crime unit FinCEN is working to approve a rule that would prohibit U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for or on behalf of MBaer.

US set to cut Swiss bank off from financial system for ties to Iran and Russian Federation

This may be the first known case where a US investor has decided to "formalize" a new business project with a major Russian company in recent years, the NYT writes

Trump-linked investor to produce gas in Alaska with Russia's Novatek

Societe Generale Societe anonyme

BNP Paribas SA

UniCredit S.p.A.

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Russians living in the EU have started to encounter checks on previously approved money transfers to Revolut from CIS countries to Europe. Often these are transactions made 1-2 years ago. Neobank tries to find out whether a third country bank was not a transit link between Russia and the EU, asks for confirmation of the source of origin of the funds and blocks the account if it sees the Russian origin of the money.

Revolut has started checking old transfers by Russians. Why is this happening and what are the risks? 

The Carlyle Group Inc.

Exxon Mobil Corporation

Chevron Corporation

Russian oil company Lukoil has found a buyer for its foreign assets that may finally satisfy OFAC. This is the American Carlyle, an investment company with big connections in US political circles. What is it known for?

Washington Liaison: the story of Carlyle, the buyer of Lukoil's foreign assets

Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Strabag SE

Raiffeisenbank, a Russian subsidiary of the Austrian RBI group, generates a significant share of its profits. But its Austrian owners cannot receive dividends from it because of Russian laws and courts. On January 30, the Austrian bank will publish preliminary results for 2025. What should investors know about the bank's business in Russia?

Raiffeisen Bank will report for 2025. How its business will be affected by the Russian subsidiary

Wise Group AB

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.

European banks have started blocking Russians' transfers around the world

In December this year, the Russian Federation was added to the EU's blacklist in the area of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, which in the long term should make life more difficult for those who are somehow connected with Russia. Iran has been on this list for many years. Oninvest asked Iranianist Nikita Smagin, who has lived in the Islamic Republic, to describe how life is organized for Iranians from a financial point of view.

Personal finance in Iran: how citizens live under sanctions

Eni S.p.A.

BP p.l.c.

TotalEnergies SE

Shell plc

In October 2025, the US imposed blocking sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil. This raised questions about the fate of their foreign assets, especially in the case of Lukoil, which is traditionally focused on international expansion. What scenarios and contenders for this company's foreign assets are currently being discussed?

How Russian company Lukoil is trying to find buyers for its foreign assets

Nikolai Storonsky, founder and CEO of the fintech bank Revolut, told in a large interview about plans for an IPO, increasing his stake in the company, and called reports about moving to Dubai a fake. He also touched upon the topic of account blocking, which was massively faced by citizens of Russia and Belarus, and explained why the bank applied sanctions to the accounts of family members of businessman Oleg Tinkov when he was blacklisted in the UK.