OREANDA-NEWS Swedish bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) has announced that it will stop transferring payments to Russia and Belarus from May 31. After that, all incoming payments will be returned to the sender.

The bank explained this decision by the fact that due to the special operation in Ukraine and Western sanctions, operations with Russia and Belarus "become extremely complicated and risky. After March 31, services to Russian or Belarusian clients will be provided in exceptional cases. These may include humanitarian issues, such as payment of pensions, explained in the SEB.

In March, it became known that SEB had decided to leave the Russian market and to terminate its operations in the country. The company has branches in St. Petersburg and Moscow with a total of about 80 employees.

Earlier Andrea Orchel, the chief executive director of the largest Italian bank UniCredit said that the organization was going to leave Russia because of increased risks.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken was founded in 1972. It is one of the largest banks in Sweden. It is one of the hundred largest banks in the world.