Goldman Sachs is pulling out of Russia, becoming the first big U.S. bank to leave.

Goldman Sachs is leaving Russia, changing into the primary huge American financial institution to exit the nation after Western governments imposed a raft of sanctions meant to cripple the Russian financial system.

“Goldman Sachs is winding down its enterprise in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing necessities,” Andrea Williams, a spokeswoman for the financial institution, mentioned in an e mail. “We’re targeted on supporting our shoppers throughout the globe in managing or closing out pre-existing obligations out there and making certain the well-being of our individuals.”

The funding banking large has about 80 workers in Russia and is arranging for the departures of those that have requested to depart, Ms. Williams mentioned, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg Information. Some workers in Goldman’s authorized and compliance divisions will stay within the nation.

On the finish of 2021, the New York financial institution had greater than $700 million in publicity to Russia, linked to loans and monetary merchandise like shares and bonds, in response to a submitting. Though Goldman has had a presence in Russia, its enterprise there’s a small slice of the financial institution’s world operations.

“None of us can fail to spot this for what it’s: the invasion of a sovereign state,” David M. Solomon, Goldman’s chief govt, mentioned in a memo to the employees on Thursday. “A whole lot of hundreds have been pressured to flee their houses, Ukrainian cities have suffered huge destruction and already there was tragic lack of life. I do know that this stays a particularly daunting and troublesome time for a lot of of our individuals.”

American and Western banks have pulled again from direct dealings in Russia since 2014, when america imposed penalties after President Vladimir V. Putin’s annexation of Crimea.

Citigroup, which has about 3,000 workers in Russia, mentioned on Wednesday that it could “assess our operations within the nation.” Citi’s shopper division in Russia is working restricted operations; the financial institution put the enterprise up on the market as a part of a broader exit from abroad markets introduced final yr. The financial institution had $9.8 billion of publicity to Russia on the finish of 2021, together with company and shopper loans and native authorities debt securities, in response to a submitting. It’s working to cut back that publicity, finance chief Mark Mason informed traders final week.

The newest financial punishments on Russia might have far-reaching oblique penalties due to the scale of its financial system and its worldwide linkages. The nation is a significant exporter of uncooked supplies like oil, pure gasoline and wheat.

Citigroup, the one U.S. financial institution with operations in Ukraine, had greater than 200 staff within the nation and was serving to those that needed to depart to cross the border into Poland, Jane Fraser, Citigroup’s chief govt, mentioned final week.