Singapore's second-largest bank to halt transactions involving Russia

From 1 November, Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) will no longer handle any transactions involving Russia.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: In a message to its corporate and private clients, OCBC explained that the decision was driven by the challenges of adhering to regulatory requirements due to sanctions against Russia.

The transactions that OCBC and its wealth management unit, Bank of Singapore, will cease to process include personal transfers involving Russian counterparties.

This will also apply to transactions relating to the transportation of goods, as well as the supply or sale of goods and services involving Russia. 

The bank's exposure to these restrictions is expected to be minimal, however, since OCBC had stopped opening new accounts for Russia-linked clients in the last two years.

Background: The Singaporean government imposed unilateral targeted sanctions on Russia, focusing on specific Russian banks, in March 2022. However, activities related to cryptocurrency trading, export of certain goods, and other unsanctioned banking and asset management operations continued.

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