Russian banking TCS Group, which operates the country's only pure online bank Tinkoff, at its general annual shareholder meeting approved the decision to redomicile the company from Cyprus to Russia, according to the group's report cited by RBC business portal. 

Reportedly TCS plans to apply to the Cypriot registration authority, as well as make the necessary changes to the charter and authorised capital to continue to exist as a legal entity in a jurisdiction other than Cyprus.

This would allow TCS to bypass the limitation imposed on “unfriendly” foreign entities in Russia and transfer dividends to shareholders or make payments from operating companies in favour of the parent company. TCS also confirmed earlier reports on its delisting from LSE.

RBC reminds that TCS Group was registered in Cyprus in 2006, at the same time Tinkoff founder Oleg Tinkov bought a small Russian Khimmashbank to create a bank without branches on its basis. 

As followed by bne IntelliNews, TCS Group is controlled by Interros of sanctioned Vladimir Potanin, who bought the bank from the exiled founder Oleg Tinkov, as yet unsanctioned Potanin was picking up exiting Western assets and rebuilding his banking empire.

In 2022 Tinkoff remained profitable, remaining one of the largest unsanctioned private banks. Tinkoff alone maintained a RUB21bn profit under IFRS, albeit down three-fold year on year. In 1Q23 alone, TCS Group posted RUB16.2bn profit. Tinkoff, an online bank, serves over 28mn retail customers.

In July 2023 the US sanctioned the Tinkoff Bank, but not its parent structure TCS Group. The analysts surveyed by RBC business portal believed that Tikoff is well prepared for disruptions of operations with foreign correspondent banks. In 2022, Tinkoff had already significantly cleared its balance sheet of assets in US dollars and euros. 

On the same day as Tinkoff Bank has been put on the US SDN List, the founder and former owner of Tinkoff Oleg Tinkov has been cleared of sanctions by the UK. 

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