A foundation set up by a sanctioned Russian billionaire opened an account with Barclays after JPMorgan Chase & Co cut ties, latest accounts show.
The Potanin Foundation was established by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin in 2006 to develop education and culture in Russia by awarding grants to support the programmes of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation, its sister charity in Russia.
Potanin – the former wealthiest man in Russia, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index – was sanctioned by the UK government in June 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This led to JPMorgan ending its relationship with the Potanin Foundation and liquidating the investment portfolio it managed for the charity, according to BNN Bloomberg.
After Potanin was sanctioned, the Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the foundation to consider the best ways to protect the charity’s assets, to examine Potanin’s role in decision-making and to review the foundation’s relationship with its sister charity in Russia.
This led to the regulator appointing Guy Hollander of the accountancy firm Mazars LLP as interim manager to handle the property and affairs of the charity.
Barclays said it opened a bank account in Hollander’s name to facilitate his role as interim manager in October 2022.
A Barclays spokesperson said: “HM Treasury’s sanctions office granted licence for Mr Hollander to open an account to manage assets of the charity and Barclays opened the account for Mr Hollander as the interim manager in accordance with this licence.
“The bank did not have a banking relationship with the charity prior to the appointment of Mr Hollander.”
Barclays said it had Hollander’s consent to confirm the information.
The Potanin Foundation’s latest accounts, covering the financial year ending 31 December 2022, show a total income of £879,000 and expenditure of £614,000.
This is significantly less than its peak expenditure of £42.7m in 2019.
Last month the commission criticised major banks for providing “poor customer service” to charities and abruptly closing or suspending their accounts.
An open letter signed by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator has called for “big banks” to “improve services for charities”.