US Treasury lifts sanctions on former VTB Bank Europe

MOSCOW. April 3 (Interfax) - The US Treasury has lifted sanctions on German bank OWH SE (formerly VTB Bank Europe), which is owned by VTB Group and is in the process of liquidation, the US Treasury website says.

After imposing sanctions on VTB in April 2022, the German regulator removed the Russian bank from the subsidiary's management, transferring voting rights to a trustee who then decided to liquidate VTB Bank Europe as of April 1, 2023.

OWH was included in US and UK sanctions lists as a subsidiary of VTB. The bank's website states that OWH has received special licenses allowing it to conduct operations only as part of the process of liquidation. European authorities did not impose sanctions against the bank.

OWH SE filed a lawsuit against VTB in the Frankfurt Regional Court, it was reported in March of this year, demanding the return of dividends paid in previous years of over 300 million euro; the Russian bank is preparing to defend its interests in a German court.

"This story, no matter how it ends, in my opinion, will be included in textbooks of both corporate law and best practices for holding companies working with unfriendly foreign jurisdictions. The former VTB Bank Europe, whom we denied the rights to use the name, by the way, filed an application against VTB in the Frankfurt Regional Court, citing German legislation. On controversial grounds, they are demanding that we return dividends previously paid by them for 10 years of more than 300 million euro. We are working on our legal position and are going to defend our interests in this unfriendly country's court," VTB First Deputy Chairman Dmitry Pyanov told reporters.