Overview

• Britain named Capital Bank and its director Kantemir Chalbayev, along with crypto platforms Grinex and Meer, among eight targets, freezing U.K. assets and restricting access to London financial and legal services.
• The measures focus on A7A5, a ruble-pegged token issued by Old Vector and linked to Promsvyazbank, which the UK says moved $9.3 billion on a dedicated exchange in four months.
• Blockchain firms report that A7A5 trading and liquidity connect to sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, with Grinex described by investigators as a successor platform.
• The UK action follows recent U.S. sanctions on Grinex and Old Vector, and Washington earlier designated Keremet Bank for facilitating Russian trade payments.
• President Sadyr Japarov denied Kyrgyz banks were involved in sanctions evasion and said the government will centralize ruble operations at Keremet Bank under state supervision.