Russian payments rejected by banks, says journal

The metal industries are the latest victims of political tensions with Russia, as bank branches in Hong Kong have refused to take payments from Russian accounts, according to Metal Bulletin.

Five Russian banks have been sanctioned by the US and EU over the past month. Although these mainly relate to brokerage services and fundraising in the EU, subsidiaries of HSBC, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered have exercised over-caution when it comes to payments originating from Russia – a stance that will no doubt intensify following Standard Chartered’s $300m fine by US regulators yesterday for breaching compliance obligations.

To avoid raising red flags, many Russian companies have now either moved banks or requested a switch to dollar-denominated currencies. The policies have allegedly also extended to Belorussia.

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