Major US broker restricts operations for Belarusians
US broker Lime has restricted the ability to conduct transactions for clients from Belarus and is likely preparing to completely cease servicing them. This was reported by investor Dzmitry Naryvonchyk on his Telegram channel "Netrudovye Dokhody", Office Life reports .
Illustrative image. Photo: magnific.com
Reportedly, all accounts of clients who are residents of Belarus have been switched to liquidation-only status. This means that account holders can only sell financial instruments, transfer them to another US broker, or withdraw funds.
The US broker stopped opening accounts for Belarusians back in 2022 due to sanctions. Clients holding Belarusian passports were mainly serviced by the European subsidiary Just2Trade.
As noted in the post on the investor channel, foreign brokers typically close accounts in such situations while allowing clients to liquidate assets and recover their money.
Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, many US and European brokerage firms ceased working with clients from Russia and Belarus. In some cases, funds belonging to Belarusians ended up frozen in European accounts, leaving the owners unable to withdraw them. A similar situation arose, in particular, for trust management clients of Alfa-Bank.