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The original was posted on /r/ukpersonalfinance by /u/OrdinaryXylophone on 2023-08-11 12:45:30.

Two passports, a decade in the UK, and a frozen pension pot — no, this isn’t a spy thriller plot; it’s my baffling reality.

As a proud British citizen who was born in Moscow and shops at Aldi, I’ve recently stumbled into a financial conundrum that’s left me both puzzled and frustrated. Vanguard has locked my assets, citing sanctions due to my Russian passport, and I need your help, Reddit!

Here’s my story…

I’m a British citizen with two passports: Russian and British. I was born in Moscow but have been living in the UK for the last 10 years. I’ve got a job in the UK, have a mortgage, I’m also self-employed, I pay taxes, etc.

I recently switched jobs and was trying to transfer my pension from NEST to Vanguard to have everything in one pot.

I didn’t find an option how to do that with Vanguard and blamed their UX first.

But then I discovered that my assets (roughly 20K pension, 1.5K ISA) are frozen because I’m under sanctions. It’s not a UX issue!

Facts about me:

  1. I’m certainly not an oligarch last time I checked. I shop at Aldi. I buy wine at Sainsbury’s.
  2. I’m also strongly anti-war, and we even hosted a refugee from Ukraine in our flat under the programme “Homes for Ukraine.". I don’t like Vladimir Putin. In my eyes, he’s the cockroach.
  3. I’ve got accounts with American Express, Chase, Monzo, Firstdirect, and we have a mortgage with Nationwide — no issues whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I have some S&P 500 from Vanguard, but purchased through Trading 212 — they also seem to be totally fine.I’m curious as to why Vanguard is the only institution to have taken this step in light of my Russian passport.

Actions I’m thinking of taking (and need your help here, Reddit!)

— Would it make sense to register a complaint with Vanguard and then use the Financial Ombudsman Service to escalate this further? I think it’s discrimination based on my nationality, and I don’t think it’s fair!

— If I were to decide to close my account with Vanguard, would I be able to safely transfer my pension and ISA to another provider? Any recommendations in this case?

Thanks, everyone!