Switzerland freezes $8 billion in financial assets under Russia sanctions
Switzerland has frozen financial assets worth 7.5 billion Swiss francs ($7.94 billion) as of November 25 under sanctions against Russians to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the agency overseeing sanctions, said on December 1 that 15 properties in six cantons are also "blocked."
Up until June 3, it said, SECO had been notified of existing deposits held by Russian nationals, and individuals and legal entities in Russia, amounting to 46.1 billion francs.
Last February, Switzerland broke away from its historic neutrality to levy sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Western governments froze the Russian central bank's foreign exchange assets, effectively cutting it off from the global financial system.
The $8.3 billion, or 7.4 billion Swiss francs, in Russian central bank assets in Switzerland are separate from the 7.5 billion francs worth of assets belonging to Russian individuals and companies that were frozen as well.
