A Russian court has ordered the seizure of $440 million (approximately 600 billion KRW) of assets belonging to the US investment bank JP Morgan in Russia. This is a retaliatory measure against the West, which froze overseas assets of Russian state-owned enterprises following the Russia-Ukraine war.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan
According to US CNBC on the 24th (local time), the Arbitration Court of Saint Petersburg, Russia, ruled in a lawsuit filed by the Russian state-owned VTB Bank against JP Morgan. VTB Bank filed the lawsuit last week seeking the return of $439.5 million of its funds held in JP Morgan accounts in the US that were frozen due to US sanctions. The court ruled that JP Morgan must seize Russian assets equivalent to the amount of VTB Bank’s frozen assets in the US.
The US, Europe, and other Western countries imposed sanctions on Russian state-owned enterprises and froze their overseas assets after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In response, Russia issued orders to temporarily control assets of unfriendly countries’ companies within its territory and strengthened regulations related to dividend payments as retaliatory measures.
JP Morgan stated that under US law, it cannot access VTB Bank’s frozen assets. JP Morgan has filed a separate lawsuit in the US to prevent the seizure of its assets in Russia. JP Morgan, along with Goldman Sachs and others, announced their withdrawal from Russia at the onset of the war but have yet to fully wind down their local operations.
German automaker Volkswagen lost a lawsuit against a gas group owned by energy tycoon Oleg Deripaska, who is subject to Western sanctions, resulting in the seizure of approximately $204 million (280 billion KRW) worth of assets in Russia. Bloomberg reported that the freezing of these assets was lifted only after Volkswagen received approval to sell its Russian business to the local car dealer Avilon.
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