Major UK bank fined for breaching Russian sanctions
British citizen made bank transactions despite Russian sanctions
- Bank of Scotland has been fined £160,000 by the UK Treasury's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).
- The penalty was issued because the bank processed 24 payments, totalling £77,383, to or from a current account held by a British citizen under UK sanctions.
- These transactions occurred between 8 and 24 February 2023, violating financial sanctions imposed against Russia.
- The sanctioned individual opened an account at Halifax, a Bank of Scotland subsidiary, using a name variation that bypassed the bank's automatic screening system.
- Bank of Scotland's fine was reduced by 50 per cent due to its prompt voluntary disclosure of the breaches to OFSI.