UK fines Citibank London $6 million over Russia sanctions breaches

A Citi spokesperson said the bank welcomed the conclusion of the case and that it took sanctions compliance very seriously.

The regulator said many of the breaches at Citibank, N.A. London Branch, arose in the immediate aftermath of the introduction of sanctions, which placed "significant strain on the bank’s alert handling and investigation processes".

In total, Citibank's London branch processed 970 payments with a cumulative value of £19.7 million which OFSI said breached its regime, some of which were for accounts owned by state-owned shipping company PJSC Sovcomflot, while the bank also processed payments for designated Russian banks Alfa-Bank, PJSC Gazprombank and Credit Bank of Moscow.

"OFSI does not consider there to have been any intent by CBNA London to breach sanctions. However, the errors and failings referred to above were, in aggregate, material and significant and they occurred across a wide range of business areas and systems within the bank," the regulator said in a statement.

The Citi spokesperson said in a statement that the bank had cooperated with OFSI throughout the investigation and continued to invest significantly in its global sanctions compliance framework.