Russia Freezes Assets of Major U.S. Banks

On Wednesday, the Moscow Arbitration Court took the significant step of freezing funds held by major U.S. banks in their Russian branches, totaling around $372 million.

This action was prompted by a request from the Deputy Prosecutor of Russia, aimed at “safeguarding the interests of the Russian Federation.”

The case is tied to the Ukrainian Central Bank’s intention to revoke the license of MR Bank, a Ukrainian subsidiary of Sberbank, with plans for its liquidation by 2025.

The Russian prosecutor’s office recently filed a lawsuit against both Ukrainian regulators and the U.S. banks involved—specifically, Bank of New York Mellon and JP Morgan Chase Bank—claiming that the actions taken constitute “expropriation” of MR Bank’s ownership, thus violating Russia’s legal rights.

The prosecutors are seeking a court declaration that the funds of $121 million in a JP Morgan Chase account and $251 million at the Bank of New York Mellon belong to Sberbank.

Court filings indicate that the Russian bank has been stripped of judicial oversight over its subsidiary, hindering its ability to manage earnings and, consequently, blocking the state from accessing revenue generated by MR Bank’s international operations.