Jamie Dimon, CEO and Chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co., speaks during a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs oversight hearing on Wall Street firms on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2023. gesture.
Evelyn Hochstein | Reuters
Russian court backs state bank VTB Bank in recovery of US$439.5 million JPMorgan The U.S. bank’s U.S. accounts were frozen after the Ukrainian invasion.
The court ordered the seizure of funds in JPMorgan’s Russian accounts as well as “movable and immovable property,” including the bank’s shares in its Russian unit, according to a court order issued on Wednesday.
The order came after VTB filed a lawsuit with the St. Petersburg Arbitration Court last week, seeking to recoup funds frozen in the United States and asking for relief as JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it planned to exit Russia.
The next hearing in the Russia case will be held on July 17.
JPMorgan Chase declined to comment. VTB did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The order is the latest example of U.S. banks caught between the demands of Western sanctions regimes and overseas interests. JPMorgan is the largest U.S. bank by assets and is run by veteran CEO Jamie Dimon.
Two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Biden administration has imposed an unprecedented series of sanctions, oil price caps and trade restrictions aimed at weakening Moscow’s military machine.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a sweeping foreign aid bill that includes new powers for U.S. officials to find and seize Russian assets in the U.S., adding a boost to U.S. efforts to persuade European allies to release Russian state assets to aid Ukraine .
JPMorgan Chase filed a lawsuit against VTB in the Southern District of New York last week in an attempt to block VTB’s efforts. noticed U.S. law prohibits the bank from releasing VTB’s $439.5 million.
This cost JPMorgan nearly half a billion dollars in losses due to compliance with U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. bank, which sought to block VTB’s efforts, said the Russian company had breached a contractual commitment to seek relief in U.S. courts and instead sought friendlier venues in Russia.
JPMorgan said Russian courts have allowed Russian banks to take similar actions against U.S. or European banks on at least six occasions.
JPMorgan said VTB faced “certain and irreparable harm” from its efforts.
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