Gazprombank Group ending operations on Swiss financial market

MOSCOW. Oct 10 (Interfax) - The board of directors of Gazprombank (Switzerland), a subsidiary of Russia's Gazprombank (GPB) has decided to cease banking operations on the Swiss financial market, the Swiss bank said in a statement.

"The decision is the result of an in-depth strategy analysis and is being taken in close consultation with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA," Gazprombank (Switzerland) chairman Ivan Dun said in the statement.

Existing business relationships, primarily in the area of trade and export finance, will be wound down or referred to external banking partners in the coming months.

It was reported earlier that Gazprombank had decided to explore potential strategic options for its Swiss subsidiary Gazprombank (Switzerland). These options included potential divestment of selected assets or the sale of the business as a whole, the bank said in July.

Gazprombank (Switzerland) provides traditional banking products to corporate clients. In October 2020, the bank secured permission from FINMA to conduct transactions with the cryptocurrency accounts of corporate and institutional clients. Since then, is has presumably been able to provide clients with cryptocurrency custody services and conversion of cryptocurrency into fiat money.