Bank of Cyprus, one of the largest banks in Cyprus, closed its offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg on January 22.
The largest bank in Cyprus closed in the Russian Federation
The Moscow Times reports on this, referring to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Now the bank is suspending the accreditation of its branches in the country.
Since the beginning of 2024, this is already the third representative office of a foreign bank that has closed in Russia.
Their total number in the country decreased to 23, when at the beginning of 2022 there were 37 foreign credit organizations in the register of accredited representative offices.
With the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they began to close: nine in 2022, three in 2023, and three more from the beginning of 2024. During this time, one new representative office was opened by the Kyrgyzstan "Ail Bank".
Cyprus was accused of laundering the money of Russian oligarchs
In November 2023, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) reported that Cyprus has been helping sanctioned Russians launder money since 2014.
Offshore accounts help them in this investigation.
Cyprus plays an even more important role than previously known in the transfer of dirty money on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other dictators, according to an investigation by journalists.
ICIJ Senior Editor Dean Starkman notes that Cyprus is called "Moscow in the Mediterranean".
Cyprus' financial sector has one of the weakest financial disclosure laws in the EU, as well as a lenient Central Bank.
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