In Monaco, banks have begun closing the accounts of wealthy Russians
Kyiv • UNN
Monaco's regulator has tightened bank checks due to FATF requirements. Banks are closing the accounts of clients who have not confirmed the source of their funds.
Monaco has tightened checks on banks and asset management companies, bringing the accounts of wealthy clients with Russian connections under close regulatory scrutiny. About one-third of the problematic client files identified during the checks are linked to Russia, The Moscow Times reports, according to UNN.
Details
The checks are being conducted by the principality’s financial regulator, AMSF, amid Monaco’s efforts to exit the FATF “grey list,” to which the country was added in 2024 due to shortcomings in combating money laundering.
The regulator inspected UBS Monaco, Banque Havilland, Julius Baer, Guardian Management, and International Corporate Structuring. The violations identified included insufficient checks into the source of clients’ wealth, their possible criminal, sanctions-related, and political ties, as well as suspicious financial transactions.
Banks began closing accounts
Among the clients identified through the data published by the regulator was Saodat Narziyeva, the sister of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. UBS Monaco closed her account in March 2025 after the regulator established that the bank did not have sufficient documentation on the source of the funds gifted to her by her brother.
Julius Baer ended its relationship with Viktor Fedotov, the former head of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. The regulator established that the bank reported its suspicions regarding the client only a year after the relevant grounds had emerged.
AMSF also raised claims regarding services provided to Leonid Novitsky, the brother of Russia’s former agriculture minister Yelena Skrynnik, and Alexey Fedorichev, the owner of Fedcominvest. The latter was suspected of corruption and money laundering in Ukraine, and in 2024, assets linked to him worth €41 million were seized in Italy at Ukraine’s request.
The checks also affected other wealthy clients with Russian connections whose identities have not been disclosed. In some cases, the regulator recommended that banks close accounts because it was impossible to verify the source of the capital or explain the economic rationale for the transactions.