A Russian court canceled the seizure of some of JPMorgan Chase’s funds in Russia amid a sanctions battle between the biggest U.S. bank and Russia-owned VTB Bank, court documents seen by Reuters show.
The cancelation only applies to JPMorgan funds within type C accounts, which are bank accounts opened by a foreign entity that cannot be transferred out of Russia, and in an account it uses to pay staff and taxes.
The court had ordered the seizure of $439.5 million from JPMorgan late last month after VTB sued the American megabank for that amount. That’s the amount of money VTB alleged JPMorgan blocked it from accessing within its New York-based correspondent account following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to sanctions.
JPMorgan said Wednesday that the value of assets ordered frozen and claims against it are greater than its available assets in Russia, according to a court filing seen by Reuters.
JPMorgan has $2.64 billion in assets in Russia, according to court documents, the majority of which – $2.19 billion – sits in type C accounts. Funds within type C accounts cannot legally be seized in Russia.
The Justice Department in February charged VTB CEO Andrey Kostin with sanctions violations related to his ownership of two yachts valued at more than $135 million and a home in Aspen, Colorado.
Kostin, who was charged with two counts of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, two counts of conspiracy to violate that law, and one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering, told Russian media the charges were “groundless.”
JPMorgan and VTB did not return Reuters’ request for comment.
