A court in Finland ruled on Monday that a group of banks in the Nordic countries are not obligated to undertake the financial transactions of Russian billionaire Boris Rothenburg.
The lawsuit filed by Rothenberg targeted the "Svenska Handelbanken" bank because he refused to accept deposits from abroad belonging to the Russian billionaire, as well as the "ABB" bank, the "OB" banking group and the Gdanske Bank, because it refused to transfer its payments to the accounts of sellers of goods Or basic services such as paying electricity bills.
According to "Bloomberg" news agency, billionaire Rottenberg, who has a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, lost the lawsuit against four banks in the Nordic countries, and the court also fined him more than 500 thousand euros to cover the legal fees incurred by those banks.
The court stated that obliging banks to manage the financial transactions of the Russian billionaire listed on the US sanctions list would have exposed them to grave financial risks, which is something that the law prevents them from doing.
"This decision sets an important precedent," Bloomberg quoted Copenhagen-based lawyer Jamesob Bernhoft, a money laundering lawyer.
"All other banks will be guided by this court ruling to see what they can do in similar situations," he explained.