From Frankfurt comes a new crackdown against i Russians in Europe. The Supervision of ECB she asked the majors Eurozone banks to check the transactions of their Russian and Belarusian customers. Everyone: not just the oligarchs affected by EU sanctions, but even ordinary citizens who live in Europe without owning pipelines or soccer teams. The goal is to verify that Moscow does not use its citizens residing abroad to circumvent or weaken the effectiveness of the sanctions. The news is reported by the Reuters news agency, which cites three anonymous sources.
Banks: here are the new ECB rules for Russians in Europe
Tens of thousands of people, therefore, have been put under close surveillance from their own banks for the mere fact of being from Russia. According to the ECB's instructions – specifies Reuters – credit institutes will have to check above all the more significant payments and larger deposits. Banks are not required to block transfers, but to deepen checks for to establish the origin of the money, its destination and purpose. Also, they need to pay special attention to all loan applications arriving from citizens of Russia or Belarus.
Russian citizens in Europe: the restrictions foreseen so far
So far, Russians with temporary or permanent residence permits in the European Union have been excluded from the sanctions, but certain restrictions in terms of banking services have already been imposed on them: credit institutions in the Eurozone, for example, cannot accept deposits of more than 100 thousand euros from Russian citizens or entities. Now the new move by the ECB makes controls even more invasive and many people risk encountering difficulties in managing their bank accounts.
The reply of the ECB: "We do not violate the EU rules"
A Central Bank spokesman assured that the Frankfurt guidelines they do not violate EU rules in any way: Eurotower just wants to verify that all the banks placed under its supervision have the tools to comply with the sanctions against Russia also in relations with customers.
Banks risk heavy fines
Although it is not the task of the ECB to monitor the sanctions – underlines Reuters again – the supervisory authorities fear that the banks of the Eurozone they may run into heavy fines if their clients contract to move money on behalf of sanctioned individuals.
EU countries with the highest number of Russian residents
According to Eurostat data, the Germany it is by far the country in the European Union where the Russian community is the largest, counting over 230 residents. In second place is the Spain, which exceeds 81 thousand. Other popular places are France, Italy, Latvia, Czech Republic, Austria e Finland.
