A Russian court canceled the seizure of some of JPMorgan funds in Russia as part of a lawsuit with the Russian state-owned bank VTB, Reuters reported on May 2.
JPMorgan has faced several legal challenges with VTB largely as a result of U.S. and European economic sanctions on Russia and its financial institutions following the outbreak of the full-scale invasion.
VTB sued JPMorgan in a Russian court to force the American lender to recover $439.5 million of its assets in JPMorgan that was blocked following the implementation of U.S. sanctions.
JPMorgan then launched a lawsuit in a U.S. court in late April to prevent VTB from recovering $439.5 million. It argued that American law prohibited the lender from releasing the money, and VTB would try to seize its assets abroad if it prevailed in the Russia lawsuit.
The Russian court initially ordered the seizure of all blocked funds in JPMorgan accounts. However, this week, the court reversed this decision and ruled that only some of the JPMorgan assets would be seized. The funds that cannot be seized include "type C accounts," which cannot be transferred out of Russia, and current accounts used to pay staff and taxes.
Russian court documents indicate that JPMorgan has 243.3 billion roubles ($2.64 billion) of assets in Russia, 204.7 billion of which is in type C accounts.
The U.S. originally announced extensive economic sanctions against VTB Bank at the outset of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Since then, the U.S. and its partners have imposed extensive sanctions against Russian entities, individuals, and other actors aiding Moscow's aggression against Ukraine.
Rachel Amran
