The website of RCB’s Luxembourg branch states that it has ceased operations since 15 June. A check of the business register (RCS) shows that a series of directors have resigned since March this year. Formerly known as Russian Commercial Bank, the bank operates under the name RCB Bank, registered in Cyprus.
The Cypriot parent company said on 24 March that it had taken “the decision to transform the bank into a regulated asset management company, moving away from banking operations, which will be phased out.”
Citing the “current and extremely volatile geopolitical situation” as the reason, the entity invited its clients to transfer their operations and deposits to other credit institutions. The bank then stated that it had negotiated the partial sale of its loan assets for €556m.
Alleged links to VTB
Earlier this year, on 3 March, the investigative journalism organisation OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) reported that on the day Russia invaded Ukraine, 24 February, the Russian state bank VTB had transferred its shares in RCB Bank to the two remaining shareholders, two companies registered in Cyprus. In April, the European Commission prohibited transactions with VTB.
On 29 April, the OCCRP published a new article alleging links between RCB Bank and the Kremlin. In addition, a banking source was quoted as saying that European regulators pressured the bank to stop banking following the invasion of Ukraine. A Cyprus government report, cited by the OCCRP, reportedly showed that the bank used its political influence to pass problematic passport applications that did not meet the requirements for Cypriot citizenship.
On the same day that the OCCRP article was published, RCB Bank reacted: “We regret to note that this is nothing more than a malicious recycling of old stories, myths and unfounded allegations to which the bank has responded and/or refuted on numerous occasions. At the end of the press release, the bank said it was phasing out its banking activities "bearing in mind the stability of the Cypriot banking system.”
Pressure on customers
In order to speed up the process of phasing out its banking operations, RCB informed its customers on 13 May that it would increase its account maintenance fees from 12 July 2022. In doing so, the bank “sincerely hopes (...) that the planned fee increase (...) will simply serve as an additional incentive for all remaining customers to close their banking relationship (...) before that date.”
RCB Bank had been operating under a Cypriot banking licence since 1995. It had opened its Luxembourg subsidiary in 2014. The bank served both individuals and companies, particularly in the field of investments with brokerage services, custodian banking and currency transactions.
When contacted for this article, RCB Bank did not respond.
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.