European Regulators Tell Banks To Put Russian Accounts Under Surveillance, Even EU Residents

European Regulators Tell Banks To Put Russian Accounts Under Surveillance, Even EU Residents

BY TYLER DURDEN

In the latest alarming story that has that disturbing whiff of WWII-era Japanese internment camps, some European banks are now surveilling all Russia and Belarusian clients to ensure they are not seeking to circumvent Western sanctions on Moscow.

What’s more is that the order to intensively scrutinize transactions merely based on an ethnicity and nationality is coming down on orders from top EU regulators. According to Reuters, “The instructions from ECB [European Central Bank] supervisors mean tens of thousands of Russians and Belarusians resident in the EU face intense surveillance by their banks, which are on alert for big payments and deposits as well as new credit applications, said sources.”

The heaviest concentration of Russians in the EU are in Germany – at over 230,000 – and with Spain following, at more than 81,000. A source quoted in Reuters said, “At first, the measures were focused on those of Russian nationality, whether they were residents or non-residents, and later it was extended to Belarusians.”

Lest anyone think this is just run-of-the-mill sanctions enforcement on Russian nationals and particularly that it’s all about oligarchs, there’s this glaring admission in the exclusive Reuters report that even EU residents could be under watch on the mere basis of their national origin:

Some ECB supervisory teams, which include staff from the central bank and national authorities, have told banks to tighten control of EU residents too if they come from Russia or Belarus, said the sources, from banks and watchdogs.

This even though on paper the sanctions laws are supposed to exempt those holding temporary or permanent EU residence permits. The EU measures restrict Russian nationals or companies from making deposits above €100,000.

Banks are further being told by the ECB to extra careful in reviewing loan applications from any Russian or Belarusian. Already, writes Reuters, Spain is applying mass additional surveillance of thousands of bank accounts on the mere basis of having Russian ethnicity.

“In one instance, a Spanish bank has put around 8,000 Russian clients who are not on the EU sanctions list and are residing in Spain under surveillance, said one of the sources,” according to the report. What’s more is that “All new lending to Russians who do not have Spanish residency has been halted and at least one bank will not allow non-resident Russians to open new accounts, they added.”

*********

(TLB) published this article from ZeroHedge as compiled and written by Tyler Durden

Header featured image (edited) credit: The European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters Frankfurt, Germany/REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Emphasis added by (TLB) editors

••••

••••

Stay tuned to …

••••

The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

••••

Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.

••••

Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

••••

Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.