- The sum of the blocked financial assets of Russian persons in Switzerland amounts to CHF 7.5 billion (as of November 25, 2022).
- The funds are related to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
- In addition, 15 properties in six cantons are blocked, as reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco).
Seco emphasizes that the amount of frozen assets is not a direct indicator of how effectively the sanctions are being implemented. In addition, it is a snapshot; Changes in both directions are possible.
Existing deposits over CHF 46.1 billion
At the end of February, the Federal Council decided to adopt the EU’s sanctions against Russia. Among other things, it is forbidden to accept deposits from Russian nationals or natural or legal persons resident in Russia if their total value per person exceeds CHF 100,000.
Existing deposits over 100,000 francs had to be reported to Seco by June 3rd. According to the notification at the end of November, the total of the reports made up to this date amounts to CHF 46.1 billion and includes 7548 business relationships. There were 294 reports in connection with the sanctions against Belarus, which corresponds to a value of CHF 0.4 billion.
Clients are free to dispose of funds
These reported accounts belong to unsanctioned individuals, according to Seco. The accounts are therefore not blocked and these customers can still access this money. So withdraw or reallocate the money and buy and sell stocks or bonds, for example.
However, the bank may not accept any further deposits if it already has deposits of more than 100,000 francs from a person, as Lukas Regli, responsible for sanctions at Seco, specifies. The point here is rather to get an overview of Russian and Belarusian funds in Switzerland.