JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s oversight hearing on Wall Street firms on Capitol Hill on December 6, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Evelyn Hockstein | reuters
A Russian court sides with state-run lender VTB Bank in efforts to recover $439.5 million JPMorgan Chase US lender freezes US accounts after invasion of Ukraine.
The court ordered the seizure of “movable and immovable assets,” including funds in JPMorgan’s Russian accounts and the bank’s stake in a Russian subsidiary, according to a court order published on Wednesday.
The order came after VTB filed a lawsuit in the St. Petersburg arbitration court last week seeking to unfreeze the funds frozen in the U.S., and sought relief because JPMorgan has said it will operate out of Russia. Planning to leave.
The next hearing in the Russian case is on July 17.
JPMorgan declined to comment. VTB did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The order was the latest example of US banks being caught between the demands of Western sanctions regimes and foreign interests. JPMorgan is the largest US bank by assets and is led by an experienced CEO jamie dimon,
Two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Biden administration has imposed unprecedented sanctions, oil price caps and trade sanctions to weaken Moscow’s military machine.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a sweeping foreign aid bill that includes new powers for US officials to locate and seize Russian assets in the US. It also fueled an ongoing US effort to persuade European allies to release Russian state assets to aid Ukraine.
In its lawsuit against VTB in the Southern District of New York last week, JPMorgan sought to block VTB’s effort, thing worth noting That US law prevents the bank from releasing VTB’s $439.5 million.
Due to this, JP Morgan is facing a loss of about half a billion dollars due to complying with US sanctions.
The U.S. bank sought to block VTB’s effort, saying the Russian company broke its contractual promise to seek relief in U.S. courts, instead seeking a friendlier venue in Russia.
JPMorgan said Russian courts have enabled similar efforts by Russian lenders against U.S. or European banks at least half a dozen times.
JPMorgan said it had suffered “certain and irreparable harm” from VTB’s efforts.