VTB Bank dropped by U.S. lobbying firm following sanctions.

• Sidley Austin, a prominent lobbying firm in Washington D.C., announced on Friday that it is no longer representing the bank, having taken it on as a client in 2015.
• The U.S. recently imposed sanctions on executives linked to VTB.

After President Joe Biden's latest round of sanctions on the massive Russian financial institution, VTB Bank lost their top U.S. lobbyists.

Sidley Austin, a prominent lobbying firm in Washington D.C., announced on Friday that it is no longer representing the bank after taking it on as a client in 2015. The bank was penalized by the Treasury Department of Biden's administration following Russia's invasion of Ukraine this week.

VTB Group is no longer a client of Sidley Austin LLP due to compliance with U.S. sanctions, despite the firm continuing to represent the company with the U.S. government after its initial sanctioning in 2014 following Russia's invasion and annexation of Crimea.

The loss of Sidley Austin's representation means the loss of a significant ally in Washington for VTB, which could have influenced the U.S. government to support the bank following the latest sanctions. According to Forbes, VTB's market cap was over $8 billion last year.

The Treasury Department stated that the latest sanctions imposed by the U.S. targeted executives with links to VTB, including high-ranking officials Andrey Sergeyevich Puchkov and Yuriy Alekseyevich Soloviev.

Sidley Austin's lobbyists previously communicated with officials in the U.S. State Department and members of Congress while representing the bank, as reported by the Center for Public Integrity.

VTB Bank's website failed to load when trying to contact a representative for comment.

VTB did respond to the U.S. sanctions in a statement on Thursday.

At the time, a representative stated that VTB is a significant bank in Russia with a wide international reach and a stable financial standing. Despite facing sanctions in recent years, another round of politically motivated anti-Russian sanctions did not come as a surprise.

For millions of customers, investors, and shareholders, VTB has consistently been a dependable partner.