In Argentina, Galicia Bank Began Closing Accounts for Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Russians
Almost 500 people are preparing a class-action lawsuit.
Photo: Sarah Pabst/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Since the end of October, the Argentinian bank Galicia has started closing accounts without warning for Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Russians who have moved to the country. The restrictions also affected people with Argentinian citizenship and accounts for earning salaries in local companies. Almost 500 people from Russia and Belarus are preparing a class-action lawsuit against the bank, according to Meduza.
The first complaints appeared on October 28-29. Clients discovered that their accounts no longer appeared in the banking app. Some users were also denied opening new accounts. When contacting branches, Galicia employees explained the account closures as a "commercial decision" by the bank. They did not provide any other details.
“Every day is an adventure. Since yesterday, my Galicia account is not visible. Today I went to the bank. They said: the bank closed your account based on an internal decision. And you will never be able to open it again. Poo-poo-pooo. Of course, I did not receive any email or notification,” one of the clients said.
The affected individuals were offered to withdraw the remaining funds at bank branches, but, according to clients, this is not possible at every branch.
However, the blocking did not affect all Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. Some clients with Russian citizenship continue to use their accounts without restrictions. Argentinians are also complaining about account closures.
Almost 500 people from Russia and Belarus are preparing a class-action lawsuit to ascertain the reasons for the account closures. More than 400 people have joined the chat for affected individuals.
Clients believe that the account closures might be related to Galicia's merger with the Argentinian division of HSBC. There is no confirmation of this version. The bank has not yet officially commented on the situation.
Galicia is one of Argentina's major private banks, popular among foreigners, among others.