Argentina's Galicia bank closes accounts of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian residents without notice

In brief

• Argentina's Galicia bank has been closing accounts of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian residents without warning since late October.
• Customers say the blocks hit citizens of Argentina and salary accounts, but appear random.
• Branch staff cited a commercial decision and gave no criteria, and the bank has not commented officially.
• Nearly 500 people are preparing a collective lawsuit.

Accounts closed without warning

Clients began noticing the blocks on October 28 and 29. Their accounts stopped appearing in the banking app, and some were refused new accounts (У Аргенціне банк Galicia пачаў закрываць рахункі беларусам, украінцам і расіянам – Nasza Niwa) (В Аргентине клиенты банка Galicia пожаловались на блокировки счетов. Они утверждают, что ограничения затронули людей, связанных с Россией, Украиной и Беларусью – Meduza). Affected customers can withdraw money only at bank branches.

Who is affected

The closures reach people who hold Argentine citizenship as well as those who live in the country on other grounds. In some cases, salary accounts of employees of local companies were blocked. Customers say the blocks appear random: some Russian citizens still have working Galicia accounts.

The bank's explanation

Branch staff told customers the closures were a commercial decision by the bank and gave no reasons or criteria. According to Meduza, Galicia has not commented officially on the situation.

Collective lawsuit

Nearly 500 people from Russia and Belarus are preparing a class action against Galicia. A Telegram chat for affected clients has more than 400 members.