My life as a Russian exile in Paris: 'Becoming a customer of a French bank when you come from Moscow is a real feat'

GIULIA D’ANNA LUPO A few months after I arrived in Paris in 2022, the process of setting up my new life stalled. Every time I had a problem to solve, sooner or later I ran into the same obstacle: the bank account. Without a French IBAN, there was no internet, no insurance, no water, no electricity. If there was one thing I was convinced would be a mere formality upon arriving in France, it was opening a bank account. Yet, here and there, I heard worrying reports. People told me stories of accounts being closed for holders of "red" Russian passports – a reference to the Soviet Union.

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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Le Monde (EN).