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Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who lives in Zug, has been on a US sanctions list for two years. US President Trump is pressuring Russian President Putin, with whom Vekselberg maintains relations. Banks Credit Suisse, UBS and Julius Baer immediately blocked Vekselberg’s accounts. According to media reports, he has parked two billion francs of his roughly ten billion dollar fortune in Switzerland.
It was not known until now: Vekselberg also has a private account with Postfinance. And this was also blocked by the daughter of the post office. This is surprising because Switzerland did not take over the US sanctions. Therefore, a Swiss state-owned bank is based on US law.
Vekselberg cannot offer that. Therefore, you have filed a claim against Postfinance with the Commercial Court in Berne. The trial will take place on September 15 and 16. This is a fundamental question: Do the US sanctions also apply to a Swiss state bank?
The Berne Commercial Court is planning a secret trial
Postfinance delegated a large contingent to the process: the bank brought in four executives as witnesses. This means that half of the small courtroom is already occupied. Therefore, the presiding judge excludes the audience, including journalists, with reference to the crown measures on the first and decisive day of the trial. A larger room is available on the second day, but by then the important performances are over.
Postfinance takes a general position upon request and formulates a box sentence: “If a business relationship is inadmissible by law or official orders or the risks are not justifiable, we may reject it despite the basic service mandate.”
Swiss banks’ fear of Trump
The fear of US sanctions on the big banks Credit Suisse, UBS and Julius Baer is understandable because they also do business in the United States. Additionally, a Swiss bank has to intervene with a US bank for every transaction in US dollars. The US government automatically learns when a blacklisted Swiss customer transfers in US dollars. And you can step in directly and block the transaction.
The case is different with Postfinance: As a purely Swiss bank that holds Vekselberg’s private account in Swiss francs, it is not directly affected by US retaliation. Apparently, however, she fears being shut out of the dollar trade.
For decades, Swiss banks have been dealing with Russia’s billions. It was only through Trump’s sanctions list that the Russian client suddenly became persona non grata.
Vekselberg has filed another lawsuit against Julius Baer, which is pending in the Zurich Commercial Court. In the Postfinance case, he is suing personally, in the Julius Baer case through a holding company. He also threatened to sue Credit Suisse and UBS, but has not followed up so far. The Bern civil case is the first in the dispute over US sanctions.
