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☆ Russian Billionaire Fridman Loses Challenge Over Mansion Upkeep
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON (Reuters) - Sanctioned Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman cannot spend thousands of pounds a month on the upkeep of his London mansion, containing a 44 million-pound ($53.2 million) art collection, London's High Court ruled on Thursday. Fridman took Britain's sanctions office, OFSI, to court after it refused to allow him to spend 30,000 pounds a month to prevent Athlone House, which he bought for 65 million pounds, from falling into disrepair. The 59-year-old also wanted to spend 1,850 pounds a month on communications systems, which Fridman said regulate Athlone House's telephones, IT, lighting, heating and security. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) said it had already licensed Fridman to meet arrears and make one-off payments totalling around 1.4 million pounds, plus future payments of 760,000 pounds a year. Athlone House, in north London, was raided by Britain's National Crime Agency in December, which is the subject of a separate legal challenge by Fridman.

Persons: Mikhail Fridman, Fridman, Judge Pushpinder Saini, Fridman's, OFSI, Saini, Sam Tobin, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: Athlone, Athlone House, Britain's National Crime Agency, Forbes Locations: Russian, Athlone, Britain, Israel, Russia, London, Ukraine

☆ Russian billionaire Fridman loses challenge over mansion upkeep
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Sanctioned Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman cannot spend thousands of pounds a month on the upkeep of his London mansion, containing a 44 million-pound ($53.2 million) art collection, London's High Court ruled on Thursday. The 59-year-old also wanted to spend 1,850 pounds a month on communications systems, which Fridman said regulate Athlone House's telephones, IT, lighting, heating and security. Athlone House, in north London, was raided by Britain's National Crime Agency in December, which is the subject of a separate legal challenge by Fridman. The Russian billionaire, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes magazine at $12.8 billion, has been subject to British sanctions since March 2022, a month after Russia invaded Ukraine. His designation under Britain's sanctions regime was updated in September to remove a reference to him being a "pro-Kremlin oligarch".

Persons: Mikhail Fridman, Sergei Karpukhin, Fridman, Judge Pushpinder Saini, Fridman's, OFSI, Saini, Sam Tobin, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: Alfa Group, Russian, Industrialists, Entrepreneurs, REUTERS, Athlone, Athlone House, Britain's National Crime Agency, Forbes, Thomson Locations: Russian Union, Moscow, Russia, Russian, Athlone, Britain, Israel, London, Ukraine

☆ Fintech giant Wise allowed Russia sanctions target to withdraw money, U.K. government says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

British financial technology giant Wise allowed an individual on the Russian sanctions list to withdraw money, a U.K. government body said Thursday. The user was allowed to make a withdrawal of £250 ($316.63) from a business account on Wise, according to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. According to the OFSI, Wise reported a suspected sanctions breach on June 30, 2022. It's one of a rare number of cases of publicly disclosed breaches by a fintech company. Wise CEO Kristo Kaarmann was previously fined by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs for failing to pay his taxes on time.

Persons: Wise, Kristo Kaarmann, Kaarmann, Harsh Sinha, Jefferies, Sinha, Kristo Organizations: OFSI, Customs, Financial, Wise, PayPal, eBay, Jefferies Locations: Ukraine

☆ The UK has slapped so many sanctions on Russian oligarchs, authorities are struggling to keep up with their applications to pay at supermarkets, florists, and yoga studios
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

UK's sanctions enforcement authority is swamped with license applications from Russian individuals, per the Guardian. The sanctioned individuals need to get permission to access funds even for their daily needs. UK received 1,000 applications related to Russian sanctions since the Ukraine war started — up 100 times on-year. After all, sanctioned individuals appear to be willy-nilly applying for licenses for every spend. "I've always advised my clients that, frankly, you shouldn't be applying for the florist or the yoga teacher," a second unnamed lawyer representing several sanctioned individuals told The Guardian.

Persons: Europe —, willy, I've, it's Organizations: Guardian, Service, Russia, Waitrose, Treasury Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Europe

March 12 (Reuters) - A Canadian banking regulator on Sunday said it was taking temporary control of Silicon Valley Bank's (SIVB.O) unit in the country, as the fallout from the collapsed U.S. startup-focused lender reverberated around the world. "By taking temporary control of the Canadian branch of Silicon Valley Bank, we are acting to protect the rights and interests of the branch's creditors," Peter Routledge, the superintendent of financial institutions, said in a statement. OFSI said the U.S.-headquartered bank has operated in Canada since 2019 as a foreign bank branch based in Toronto. Its business in Canada is primarily lending to corporate clients, and the branch does not hold any commercial or individual deposits in Canada. The Canadian unit had C$435 million ($315.33 million) in secured loans at the end of last year, more than double the amount at the end of 2021, according to regulatory filings.

☆ U.K. Sanctions Have Frozen More Than $21 Billion in Russian Assets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

The U.K. said its sanctions targeting Russia have frozen nearly £18.4 billion in assets, equivalent to about $21.5 billion, as the country plans to ratchet up enforcement. The U.K. joined the U.S. and other countries in imposing sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. U.K. sanctions have hit more than 1,200 individuals, more than 120 entities and 19 Russian banks, the U.K. government said Thursday. The $21 billion in assets frozen by U.K. sanctions on Russia is about $7 billion more than covered by all other U.K. sanctions regimes combined, the government said. Figures from the U.S. Treasury Department in June said sanctions by the U.S., U.K. and other allies had in total blocked more than $30 billion of Russian assets.

The frozen Russian assets were 6 billion pounds more than the amount reported across all other British sanctions regimes. It does not include physical assets such as real estate or assets held in Crown Dependencies such as Guernsey and Jersey. The European Union, a 27-nation bloc with an economy five times larger, said in July it had frozen 13.8 billion euros ($13.83 billion) of Russian assets over the war in Ukraine. While Russian assets are currently only frozen, there are discussions on what options are available to seize them. In the first test of Britain's approach to enforcing sanctions, Russian billionaire Petr Aven is challenging in a London court allegations that he evaded sanctions.

☆ Wine Contest Organizer Hit With U.K. Fine for Violating Russia Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

The organizer of a popular Hong Kong wine contest breached U.K. sanctions when it dealt with a Crimean winery that entered its competition, a U.K. authority said, emphasizing that not only banks need to pay attention to sanctions risks. A spokeswoman for HK IWSC couldn’t immediately provide a comment. HK IWSC, which draws entrants from around the world, was fined over its dealings with a winery known as Massandra. According to OFSI, the winery was effectively confiscated in 2014 by authorities in Crimea, a peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine. HK IWSC didn’t come forward to report the violation, the agency said.

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