By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
UK officials have fined the London office of Deutsche Bank £165,000 ($221,000) for breaching Russia sanctions.
The OSFI (Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation) said that in 2020, the lender processed two payments worth a combined £636,000 for a sanctioned company.
This is the second OFSI monetary penalty case resolved through settlement.
The OSFI applied a 45% discount to the original £300,000 penalty, which it said reflected “voluntary disclosure and settlement”.
A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank said: “Deutsche Bank takes sanctions compliance extremely seriously.
“We have strengthened and continue to strengthen all aspects of our sanctions compliance framework and associated processes.”
Deutsche Bank Russia sanctions breach
The payment beneficiary in this case, Okko, is a Russian app developer that operates an online media streaming platform, the OSFI said in a notice.
Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, bought Okko in 2018. In May 2022, it sold Okko to an entity called JSC New Opportunities. This occurred just after the UK government sanctioned Sberbank in April 2022.
The UK government sanctioned JSC New Opportunities in June 2022. The OSFI said this meant that Okko “again became subject to prohibitions” as its owner was a sanctioned entity.
In June and July 2022, Deutsche Bank London Branch (DBLB) processed two payments sending a combined £636,000 to Okko.
The OSFI said the payments did not trigger alerts because: “At the time of the Payments, the screening lists provided by DBLB’s third-party screening vendor did not include data in relation to Okko’s ownership.”
The OSFI said the case highlighted the importance of:
- Maintaining robust sanctions screening systems and processes.
- Having “strong onboarding procedures and regular, risk‑based customer reviews”, especially in higher risk jurisdictions.
- The value of “complete, detailed, and prompt voluntary disclosure of potential breaches to OFSI”.
The incident “underlines the importance of firms maintaining effective sanctions controls,” the OSFI said. “Particularly where ownership and control structures determine whether restrictions apply.”
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