A year after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, numerous banks are still present in the country. Withdrawal isn't only complicated, but in some cases controversial.

Exactly one year after Russia began invading Ukraine, most major international banks are still operating in the pariah state.

Investment banks like Credit Suisse, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan still operate branches in Moscow, according to data compiled by «Financial News» (behind paywall) Friday. Shortly after the invasion on February 24 last year, numerous banks announced plans to exit the country.

Branch Withdrawal Difficult

Western banks still most entrenched in Russia are those with large branches serving small and retail customers, including Austrian bank Raiffeisen, Italian lender UniCredit, and Citigroup.

Longtime Kremlin critic and fund manager Bill Browder called it a disgrace that big banks continue to operate in Russia, indirectly subsidizing a war.

He calls for unsaleable assets to be written down to zero and transferred to a trust fund. Any proceeds that continue to accrue should then go to Ukraine. It would be a way to clear their conscience and reputation, he told the portal.

Browder co-founded the Hermitage investment firm in Moscow in 1995. In recent years, he has focused on campaigns against Putin's regime after his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was killed in a Russian prison in 2009.

Under Putin's thumb

Russia has made it harder for Western companies to leave the country. Because of a law introduced last year, banks need government approval to sell their businesses. The Big Four accounting firms, as well as British and US law firms Linklaters and Latham & Watkins, have pulled out of Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.

For the big Western banks, their exit from the country is taking much longer, according to «Financial News.» While Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan announced their exit from Russian operations, others including UniCredit and Raiffeisen Bank have not yet committed to ceasing operations there.

HSBC said it is waiting for government approval to sell its Russia business. UniCredit chief Andrea Orcel indicated that a rapid abandonment of its Russia business would be a boon for Putin and his cronies.

Shuttered Credit Suisse Business

Bank of America, which had some 50 staff in Russia in March 2022, moved some of it to Dubai last year, according to «Reuters».

A Credit Suisse spokesperson confirmed its Moscow office remains open. However, all onshore client relationships have been discontinued and no new business is being done in Russia, he said.