TMF Group exits Russian clients

TMF Group helps firms invest and operate safely around the world. It is the first line of defence for its clients in ensuring that they meet the standards required of them by regulators. It is also the first line of defence for the jurisdictions it operates in, ensuring that investors, their sources of funding and the structures they use are legitimate. 

At the time of writing, around 750 such parties have been sanctioned, primarily by authorities in the US, UK and EU. TMF Group has a global compliance team monitoring this daily and acting on sanctions against Russian individuals and organisations. As parties are added to sanction lists, TMF Group immediately suspends any service to them, pending a discussion with the relevant regulator and a process to determine the appropriate course of action. That has so far had very limited impact, with just a handful of TMF Group mandates affected by recent sanctions.

Given the complex interplay between individuals, institutions and government in Russia, TMF Group has decided to exit all work for clients with a Russian UBO. That decision will now be worked through our global offices. Separately, TMF Group has offices in Russia helping our North American, European and Asian clients operate there and will continue to maintain services to them.

When regulators set new standards for the kind of clients and business they want to see come into their country, we are the primary way in which those standards are enacted. As such, we are both a first line of defence for our clients and for the countries we operate in. Our decision is an important signal of our intent to play that role to the full.

Media Contacts

TMF Group:
Giampaolo Arghittu, Senior Global External Communications Manager, 
giampaolo.arghittu@tmf-group.com 
T: +39 334 947 95 84

Edward Simpkins, Partner, Finsbury Glover Hering, 
edward.simpkins@fgh.com
T: +44 7947 740 551