The US has threatened Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) with sanctions due to its business operations in Russia, following discussions with German lenders. This development has led to a notable decline in Raiffeisen's stock value, underlining the bank's significant presence in Russia where it reported a profit of $1.4 billion last year from its 490 retail branches, employing 9,942 staff. Despite these developments, Raiffeisenbank has stated there is no "concrete threat" of sanctions from the US, a response seemingly triggered by a recent EU Observer article.