Bank of Scotland Fined £160,000 for Helping Putin Ally Evade Sanctions
The UK's sanctions watchdog has slapped Bank of Scotland with a hefty fine of £160,000 for breaching EU sanctions on a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The bank had unknowingly opened an account and processed payments for Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, a senior figure in the Russian government, despite being aware that he was on a list of sanctioned individuals.
Ovsiannikov, who has been a designated person under EU sanctions since 2017 due to his involvement in undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, had managed to evade detection for several months. He initially used a UK passport with a slight variation in spelling that wasn't flagged by Bank of Scotland's automated screening system.
However, on February 24, the bank identified Ovsiannikov as a sanctioned individual and shut down his account. To avoid further consequences, Bank of Scotland promptly reported the breach to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), which had reduced the fine by half due to the bank's voluntary disclosure.
The bank has taken steps to strengthen its controls and ensure compliance with sanctions regulations. A spokesperson for Lloyds Banking Group said it "takes its regulatory responsibilities extremely seriously" and acted swiftly to report the breach.
However, the bank's lax oversight of the account still raises questions about how such a significant breach occurred in the first place. The case highlights the need for vigilance among financial institutions in adhering to sanctions regulations and avoiding unwittingly facilitating the actions of sanctioned individuals.
Despite efforts to contact him, Ovsiannikov has refused to comment on the matter. As one of the first people prosecuted under EU sanctions, his case serves as a reminder of the importance of compliance and responsible practices in financial transactions.
The UK's sanctions watchdog has slapped Bank of Scotland with a hefty fine of £160,000 for breaching EU sanctions on a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The bank had unknowingly opened an account and processed payments for Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, a senior figure in the Russian government, despite being aware that he was on a list of sanctioned individuals.
Ovsiannikov, who has been a designated person under EU sanctions since 2017 due to his involvement in undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, had managed to evade detection for several months. He initially used a UK passport with a slight variation in spelling that wasn't flagged by Bank of Scotland's automated screening system.
However, on February 24, the bank identified Ovsiannikov as a sanctioned individual and shut down his account. To avoid further consequences, Bank of Scotland promptly reported the breach to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), which had reduced the fine by half due to the bank's voluntary disclosure.
The bank has taken steps to strengthen its controls and ensure compliance with sanctions regulations. A spokesperson for Lloyds Banking Group said it "takes its regulatory responsibilities extremely seriously" and acted swiftly to report the breach.
However, the bank's lax oversight of the account still raises questions about how such a significant breach occurred in the first place. The case highlights the need for vigilance among financial institutions in adhering to sanctions regulations and avoiding unwittingly facilitating the actions of sanctioned individuals.
Despite efforts to contact him, Ovsiannikov has refused to comment on the matter. As one of the first people prosecuted under EU sanctions, his case serves as a reminder of the importance of compliance and responsible practices in financial transactions.
this is so dodgy that bank of scotland didnt even catch ovsiannikovs passport having a tiny mistake on it - how do you not notice that? 
its like they were just going through the motions, you know? 
and £160k fine seems like a slap on the wrist to me... should be way higher! 
? I mean, I know they got it together eventually (just before Ovsiannikov was gonna get too comfy 
), but still! What kind of automation fails to catch that? 
. Banks got to step up their game and keep these kinda things from happening in the future. Can't stress that enough 
This is so frustrating... £160k fine isn't even that much for such negligence 
. How can they afford to fine someone like that? And what really gets me is that Ovsiannikov managed to evade detection for months by using a slightly different passport spelling 
. What if this was a huge deal with national security implications? We need to do better than this 
.
. Don't want any other financial institutions messing up like this and getting caught out too 
. Sanctions regulations can be super complex, so I'm guessing this was just one of those "we didn't see that coming" moments 
it's all about being super careful with those typos and having multiple layers of security in place. banks need to get their act together and make sure they're not helping out sanctioned folks without even realizing it 
. Should be a wake-up call for them to review their systems and make sure this doesn’t happen again 
. And Ovsiannikov refusing to comment? pretty standard move for someone in his position, I guess 
.