Citibank’s London branch has been fined £4.7 million by a UK Treasury body for breaching Russian financial sanctions rules in 2022.

The division of the US-based investing banking group processed hundreds of payments between accounts linked to designated Russian companies and individuals, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) found in an investigation.

In total, 970 payments worth about £19.7 million were considered to be breaches.

This included processing payments for designated Russian banks Alfa-Bank JSC, PJSC Gazprombank and Credit Bank of Moscow.

The majority of the transactions occurred between February and November 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

OFSI, which is part of the Treasury, said Citi made a series of errors and failings across business areas including processing payments, operating accounts or providing correspondent banking services.

This led, in some cases, to designated people or companies they controlled being able to access funds or make payments when they should have been restricted.

The UK is among nations to have imposed sanctions on sectors, businesses and individuals who may be facilitating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Most individuals that are sanctioned under the OFSI are subject to an asset freeze and an investment ban.

OFSI said it recognised that there was “no intention” on the part of the Citi’s London branch to undermine the financial sanctions.

But it said the breaches “nevertheless enabled designated persons or entities owned or controlled by them to access funds, settle obligations, or continue business operations in a manner which significantly undermined the effectiveness of sanctions”.

The investigation found that, for all the breaches, Citi “should have known or suspected that its actions would result in a breach of financial sanctions”.

OFSI’s penalty was reduced by 40% because Citi voluntarily self-reported the majority of the breaches and agreed to a settlement to resolve the case.

A spokeswoman for Citi said the London branch “proactively engaged with OFSI and co-operated throughout its investigation” and was “pleased to conclude this matter”.

“Citi takes sanctions compliance extremely seriously and continues to invest significantly in its global sanctions compliance framework,” she said.

“We remain committed to working closely with sanctions authorities and supporting our clients through a strong and effective control environment.”