Swiss banks have commenced the closure of accounts held by individuals with Russian citizenship, even if they possess passports from other countries simultaneously.

Roman Kudinov, managing partner at the Swiss legal firm Leolex, revealed this information to the Russian publication “Vedomosti.”

According to him, several clients of UBS and Credit Suisse with dual citizenship have encountered this issue. All of them pay taxes in Switzerland and do not derive any income or pay taxes in Russia.

Additionally, one Swiss bank refused to open accounts for several Israeli citizens who retained Russian passports, as disclosed by Ivan Tikhonenok, head of the banking practice at the legal firm Amond&Smith.

According to him, banks demanded documentary evidence of renouncing Russian citizenship for further interaction with the firm’s clients.

Another bank closed an account belonging to a client of one of the Russian consulting companies, who holds Russian citizenship and a residence permit in Switzerland, as reported by a source within the company.

In the years 2022-2023, Swiss banks closed accounts of Russian clients with balances below $1 million, and for the remaining new clients from Russia, they raised the entry threshold to $5-10 million.

Subsequently, affluent Russians rushed to obtain local residency permits.

However, banks now scrutinise not only the presence of such permits or Swiss passports but also whether the client earns any income in Russia and pays taxes there, as emphasized by a source familiar with the matter.

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