HSBC is to halt commercial payments by business customers to and from Russia and Belarus, as lenders tighten restrictions beyond sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.
Britain’s biggest banking group – whose global business spans China and the United States – said the volume of sanctions and trade restrictions globally imposed on Russia and its close backer Belarus had made it “increasingly challenging” to operate.
“We have therefore reached the decision to restrict commercial payments by our corporate entity customers to or from Russia and Belarus through HSBC,” a spokesperson said. Business customers have been informed the bank no longer intends to process the payments from this month.
Nikkei, Japan’s financial news service which first reported the move, said customers in Hong Kong had
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