“Europe has spoken. The largest Russian brokers were refused to unblock the frozen assets of the aggressor — a list October 17, 07:31 Share: The largest brokers were refused to unblock the assets of Russians frozen in Europe (Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev/File Photo) The Treasury of Belgium refused to unblock the assets of Russian brokers BCS World investments and T-bank, which were frozen due to EU sanctions against the National Settlement Depository (NSD). Similar refusals”, — write on: ua.news
The largest brokers were refused to unlock the assets of Russians frozen in Europe (Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev/File Photo)
The Treasury of Belgium refused to unblock the assets of Russian brokers BCS World of Investments and T-bank, which were frozen due to European Union sanctions against the National Settlement Depository (NSD).
Other Russian brokers received similar rejections of their applications: Tsifra broker, KK Alfa-Capital, VTB and Tinkoff Insurance (now T-Insurance), reports The Moscow Times.
“There really was a refusal, we have already appealed it and are waiting for an answer,” said the representative of BCS World of Investments.
According to lawyers, the BKS can challenge the refusal out of court and in court. A pre-trial appeal will take up to three months. At the same time, a court appeal is a “longer and more expensive procedure,” said FTL Advisers adviser Kateryna Drozdova.
At the same time, according to lawyers, the decision to refuse to unblock T-Bank’s banking assets applies to client assets only if the organization has not divided them according to different statements. In the application about “global transfer” the bank did not disclose customer data, and without it the Belgian regulator cannot verify who is under sanctions and who is not.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, foreign depositories Euroclear and Clearstream, which participate in the securities custody chain, stopped conducting transactions with securities belonging to Russian investors. NSD, which was also involved in the asset custody chain, fell under EU sanctions, leading to a permanent asset freeze. NSD tried to prove that the EU “erroneously” recognized it as a systemically important financial institution, but the European Court of Justice rejected the claim to lift the sanctions in September 2024.
According to the Bank of Russia, the assets of Russian persons in the amount of 5.7 trillion rubles, 20% of them, were blocked (1.14 trillion rubles) belong to private investors.
At the same time, investors have the opportunity to unblock their assets by obtaining licenses from the Treasury of Belgium, to which Euroclear belongs, or the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg (Clearstream operates in this country). Applications for such licenses were previously submitted by Russian banks, brokers, management and insurance companies, as well as private investors. However, out of hundreds of applications, only dozens have been approved so far. Moreover, due to the introduction of US sanctions against NSD and the National Clearing Center (NCC) in addition to licenses from European regulators, a license from the US Treasury Department’s OFAC may now also be required.
It was previously reported that Ukraine’s Western allies had been discussing for several months how to use the profits from about $280 billion in frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank, most of which are located in Europe. Income from assets is estimated at 3 to 5 billion euros per year.
At the end of May 2024, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen did not rule out that the G7 countries could provide Ukraine with a multi-billion dollar loan and use the interest received from $300 billion of frozen Russian state assets.
At the beginning of June 2024, Brent Neiman, the assistant head of the US Treasury Department for international finance, said that Washington, together with its G7 partners, was making progress on the issue of providing assistance to Ukraine at the expense of profits from Russian assets.
Reuters reported that the United States is pushing Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan to provide up to $50 billion in loans backed by proceeds from frozen assets in the short term.
- The EU approved the Czech Republic’s purchase of shells for Ukraine at the expense of revenues from the frozen assets of the Russian Federation — Ministry of Defense of the country
- Ukraine is concerned about the delay in funding from frozen Russian assets — Bloomberg
- EUR 1.4 billion of profit from frozen Russian assets was spent on the supply of weapons to Ukraine — European Commission
On June 12, 2024, the Elysee Palace announced that the G7 leaders had reached an agreement to transfer $50 billion to Ukraine at the expense of frozen Russian assets.
Later, the Minister of Economy and Finance of Italy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, stated that the countries of the European Union will provide up to 60% of the funds for a loan to Ukraine.
On August 24, Bloomberg, citing its own sources, wrote that Ukrainian officials are increasingly afraid of delays in completing the agreement, which will make it possible to receive support in the amount of $50 billion at the expense of profits from the frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
On September 17, Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis announced that the European Union allocated 1.4 billion euros of profits obtained from frozen Russian assets for the supply of weapons to Ukraine.