The bank had been one of the last remaining channels for financing trade flows between Russia and Switzerland because other major Russian banks are subject to sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The decision is the result of an in-depth strategy analysis and is being taken in close consultation with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority [FINMA],” Gazprombank’s board chairman, Ivan Dun, said in a statement.
Existing business relationships will be wound down or referred to external banking partners in the coming months, Gazprombank said.
The Russian bank had launched a strategic review in summer and a search for investors to buy the Zurich-based business. The bank had been operating in Switzerland since 1966 and under the Gazprombank (Switzerland) name since 2009.
Its Swiss business, which employs about 80 people, is mainly active in trade and export financing, including helping Swiss industrial groups finance exports to Eastern Europe. It also financed the extraction, transport and processing of raw materials from Russia to Western Europe for commodity traders.
Gazprombank has yet to feel the full force of Western sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But some European countries have been pushing for the bank to be expelled from the international payment system SWIFT in the next round of EU sanctions. There are reports that the US could also target Gazprombank with full blocking sanctions.
Another Russian bank, Sberbank, recently made the headlines in Switzerland. The Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank was sold to the Geneva-based m3 Groupe Holding company, freeing the bank from intensive supervision by the Swiss financial regulator, it was reported last month.
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