Bank of Scotland fined £160,000 for breaching UK's Russia sanctions

The bank, which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, processed 24 payments in February 2023 totalling £77,383 to and from a personal current account held by a UK designated person. OFSI said the transactions breached prohibitions on dealing with, and making funds available to, a sanctioned individual.

The individual was not named by OFSI, but a person familiar with the matter said the account related to Dmitrii Ovsyannikov, a former senior Russian government figure. Ovsyannikov has been subject to UK sanctions since 2017 and was granted a British passport in January 2023, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

OFSI said the account was opened using a British passport that contained a spelling variation of the name listed on the UK sanctions register. The account was held with Halifax, which operates under Bank of Scotland.

Ovsyannikov was sentenced to 40 months in prison in 2025 after being found guilty of breaching UK sanctions and money laundering. He previously held several senior roles in the Russian government and was appointed governor of Sevastopol by President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Lloyds Banking Group voluntarily disclosed the breach to OFSI in March 2023, one month after the payments were processed. As a result of the voluntary disclosure, the final penalty was reduced by 50%.

A spokesperson for Lloyds Banking Group said:

“Lloyds Banking Group takes its regulatory responsibilities extremely seriously. We acted swiftly and transparently, proactively referring this one off, isolated matter to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation and working closely with them throughout.

“OFSI has recognised our prompt voluntary disclosure, resulting in the maximum possible reduction of the penalty. We have further strengthened our controls to ensure we continue to meet the highest standards of risk management and governance.”