American Interactive Brokers began closing accounts of Russians with residence permits in Europe

These cases are known in particular to the managing partners of the law firm FTL Advisers, Natalya Patseva, and the consulting firm LWM, Lenar Rakhmanov. According to the newspaper, even those who pay taxes in the EU receive letters about the closure of accounts.

O2 Consulting managing partner Olga Sorokina said the law firm’s clients began receiving letters about account closures in November. This includes clients with residence permits in Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, it said.

In letters to clients reviewed by Vedomosti, Interactive Brokers explained the decision to close accounts as “internal policy.” The broker has already marked the accounts to be blocked as Close Only. This means that the client can reduce or close positions and withdraw money, but not increase or create new ones.

Interactive Brokers also offers the ability to transfer an account for closure to another broker through the Automated Client Account Transfer System (ACATS). To do this, you must contact a new broker and request an account transfer.

“If you do not close or transfer all positions in the account within 30 days of this notice, we reserve the right to liquidate the remaining positions in the account, credit the liquidation proceeds to your account or distribute them in accordance with your last withdrawal instructions.”, says one of the letters.

FTL Advisers associated the new wave of Russian account closures with Interactive Brokers with the latest US blocking sanctions, which were introduced on October 30. So the list included more than 30 people and more than 360 companies.

Rakhmanov suggested that account blocking applies to all clients with a Russian passport, regardless of the presence of a residence permit and tax residence in Europe. The expert is sure that “sooner or later” all Interactive Brokers clients with Russian citizenship will encounter this.

The American broker began introducing restrictions against Russian clients in 2022, following the start of the military operation in Ukraine. In August 2024, Interactive Brokers banned Russians from depositing accounts in 12 currency pairs.