Recent sanctions against Russian banks have hamstrung Sberbank's Swiss subsidiary. Now, it has found a buyer for its local business.
In four to five weeks, Sberbank (Switzerland) is likely be doing business under a new name, Swiss newspaper «Le Temps» (in French, behind paywall) reports, citing bank internal communication.
Unknown Buyer
Sberbank (Switzerland) had been looking for a buyer for weeks before finding its current acquirer, whose name has not been disclosed, the report said. A sale is expected to be completed this week.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) has been supervising the bank for several months due to sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, against its Russian parent.
Since then, the institution, which specializes in commodity trade financing, had only been able to carry out existing transactions, while making payments to clients was almost impossible, the bank said.
Finma announced Wednesday that it would extend measures taken in March to protect the creditors of Sberbank Switzerland until August 2.
Swift Removal
Earlier this week the EU decided to exclude the Russian Sberbank from the Swift payment network, making transactions with other countries considerably more difficult for the bank. This came after seven other Russian banks were excluded from the network in March.
Sberbank has been active in Switzerland since 2011 and had around 70 business customers at the beginning of March.
