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Bloomberg
Should banks be forced to accept a client who could be on the wrong side of the law? A court in Finland is about to decide the answer to that question, and its verdict may have far-reaching
implications.
Russian billionaire Boris Rotenberg is suing four Nordic banks for not doing business with him. The oligarch, an associate of President Vladimir Putin, is on the US sanctions list. But Rotenberg says his status as a dual citizen of both Russia and Finland means banks based in Europe must process his transactions.
The banks in question — Svenska Handelsbanken AB, Nordea Bank Abp, OP Group and Danske Bank A/S — disagree. The concern is that they risk losing access to the dollar market if they breach US sanctions.
Jakob Dedenroth Bernhoft, a Copenhagen-based lawyer who specialises in compliance and money laundering issues, says whatever is decided in the Helsinki District Court on Monday will set an important precedent.
“All the other banks will look at this decision from the court for guidance on what to do in a similar situation,†Bernhoft said by phone.