Raiffeisen Bank's Russian branch halts opening of new corporate accounts

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian branch of Austrian lender Raiffeisen Bank International

In a statement to Reuters, the bank's press service said: "The bank faced a large number of new applications for opening accounts and, in the face of increased requirements, including for checks and currency payments from correspondent banks, decided to concentrate on servicing the existing volume of transactions". The U.S. Department of the Treasury Sanctions Enforcement Office launched an investigation earlier this year against Raiffeisen Bank International in connection with the bank's activities in Russia.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Jason Neely)