Being on US sanctions list not sufficient to refuse EU bank account, court rules

BRUSSELS, June 11 (Reuters) - Inclusion on a United States sanctions list is not sufficient on its own for a refusal to open a bank account in the European Union, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Thursday.

• In 2022, a Slovenian bank - referred to in the court decision as Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor, since acquired by OTP Group - refused to open an account with basic features for a consumer, named in the decision only as LH, who was included on a sanctions list by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces economic and trade sanctions, the court said.

• That consumer was not convicted of the criminal offence that led to his inclusion on the OFAC list and is not subject to sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the European Union or Slovenia, the court said.

• The court said any legal EU resident may open and use a basic bank account, though that right is subject to compliance with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism rules.

• Inclusion on the OFAC list or any other sanctions list by a third country can be included as relevant factors while determining the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, the court said.

• But "the mere inclusion of a customer's name on the OFAC list, or on any other list of that type drawn up by a third country, does not automatically prohibit a bank from establishing a business relationship with that customer," the court said in a statement.

• "At OTP Bank, we operate in full compliance with applicable legislation and regulatory requirements, including in the area of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/FT), where we implement clearly defined policies, procedures, and control mechanisms. According to the judgment in case C-81/24 banks remain fully obliged to comply with anti-money laundering rules. In principle they must do so through a proper, individualised risk assessment which was already the practice to date," said OTP Group, responding to a request for comment.

• The U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by David Holmes)