MOSCOW, February 13 – RIA Novosti, Natalia Dembinskaya. European depository Euroclear stopped accepting rubles, Russian investors’ assets were frozen. Ruble balances were forcibly converted to euros. This is another step towards the eventual breaking of the financial systems of Russia and the West.
Ruble rejected
“We left the ruble as the currency of the account. <...> and blocked our account with ING Bank.” Customers can no longer transfer rubles to ING Bank.
Russian currency will not be accepted in other accounts opened on behalf of Euroclear. “If this situation continues, we do not accept any liability as payments will not be considered received,” the company said.
for my own purposes
In addition, securities in rubles were excluded from trading.
“Previously, non-residents, who were forbidden to sell OFZs in our market, sold them abroad, and the new owners then transferred the securities to the Russian accounting infrastructure. Now this will be more difficult,” says Evgeny Shatov, partner of Capital. Lab
As Finmir market financial expert Anton Kravtsov explains, in fact, this means that Russian securities, dividends and coupon payments will be frozen until a high political level finds a way out of the current situation.
“The decision is quite logical, as you have to convert Russian assets into the national currency to use them for your own purposes,” the analyst says.
Sanctions against NRM
In June, the European Union blacklisted the National Reconciliation Depot (NSD) as part of the sixth round of sanctions. Switzerland later joined. As a result, in addition to the securities and money of Russian customers in various currencies (NSD has been blocked on accounts with Euroclear and Clearstream since March), funds in euros and Swiss francs in accounts of NSD with foreign correspondent banks are also blocked.
At the end of the year, NSD received permission from the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance and the Belgian Treasury to unlock assets in Euroclear and Clearstream until 7 January. However, due to the deadlines and the conditions put forward, almost no one took advantage of this opportunity.
Anton Siluanov, head of the Russian Ministry of Finance, spoke about this in December. The Belgian side has done everything to minimize the chances of the assets unraveling.
earned from assets
As of November 30, Russian investors’ assets blocked abroad are estimated at 5.7 trillion rubles, as reported by Olga Shishlyannikova, director of the Central Bank’s department of investment financial intermediaries. Of these, 4.56 trillion belong to brokers and the largest domestic banks, and 1.14 to individuals. This is what the authorities took into account when deciding to ban unqualified investors from buying foreign securities.
The European depository himself (Euroclear. – Ed.) earned almost a billion euros from the ice cream. According to the company’s report, its annual net income increased by 162 percent to 1.2 billion. Interest income from the reinvestment of Russian assets amounted to 821 million.
Risks are increasing
Anton Kravtsov states that reinvestment is not prohibited, it reduces your own credit risk. It is very profitable for the European Union to “shift” Russian assets.
“On the one hand, the Belgian custodian’s actions may be predominantly technical in nature – if Euroclear decides that it is better to convert rubles to euros now and then invest these funds for income. On the other hand, this is another step. TeleTrade Information and Analytics Center’ Towards a strategic break between the Russian and European financial systems,” says Alexey Fedorov, Leading Economist of .
However, chasing instant profits carries reputational risks.
Experts stress that forced conversion will not interfere with currency agreements within Russia. In fact, it has already been taken into account due to Euroclear’s inoperability and refusal to cooperate. Financial analyst-trader Artem Zvezdin adds that it is now legally formalized.
But sanctions against the National Clearing House and the Moscow Stock Exchange are becoming more and more likely. According to various sources, client funds at NCC range from $30 to $50 billion, all held in foreign banks. If this difficult scenario materializes, it will suffer the same fate as the Central Bank’s 300 billion assets.
Source: Ria
I am Emma Sickels, a highly experienced journalist specializing in news and economy. As an author at News Unrolled, I cover the latest trends in the economic sector and provide readers with valuable insights into its complexities. My work has been featured in various media outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Bloomberg Businessweek and many more.
