EU court rules US sanctions listing alone not enough to deny bank account access

BRUSSELS: Inclusion on a US sanctions list is not sufficient on its own for a refusal to open a bank account in the EU, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled today.

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 US 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 UN, the EU 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.

However, “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.

The US treasury department and OTP Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.