A Russian bank sanctioned by the U.S. over Crimea is now kaput 

Russia’s Central Bank has revoked the license of “Severnyi Kredit”(Northern Credit) bank, which has been targeted by U.S. sanctions since June 2017 because of the bank’s work in Crimea. The Central Bank determined that Severnyi Kredit has completely exhausted its capital reserves.

In late December, the bank’s acting head signed an agreement for the acquisition of a large portfolio of securities, but an audit soon found that Severnyi Kredit lacks the documents confirming its ownership of these securities, leading to charges that Severnyi Kredit’s management committed large-scale asset stripping.

On December 25, Severnyi Kredit revealed that acting board chairman Sergey Krylov and several other managers have disappeared. These individuals took on managing roles at the credit organization after becoming shareholders earlier in the year.

Severnyi Kredit’s portfolio was the 244th largest in Russia. The bank was registered in Vologda, with branches in Moscow, Yaroslavl, and Simferopol.

On December 22, Severnyi Kredit announced a technical error at its processing center and imposed a daily 15,000-ruble ($260) limit on ATM withdrawals. The next day, “due to a large influx of clients,” the limit was lowered to 5,000 rubles ($86). On December 27, the bank disabled all its ATMs.