Summary
- This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
Russia’s central bank will evaluate deals by foreign banks to sell their Russian businesses on a case-by-case basis, the governor Elvira Nabiullina said on July 22, as Moscow has indicated it would stop any future exit attempts in sanction retaliation.
The finance ministry said last week that Russia would stop the sale of foreign banks’ Russian units while Russian banks abroad cannot operate normally.
Italy’s Intesa (ISP.MI) and UniCredit (CRDI.MI), Austria’s Raiffeisen (RBIV.VI), and U.S. Citi (C.N) persist in their search for alternatives to exit Russia while others such as HSBC (HSBA.L), (ROSB.MM), and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) have gotten a way out.
“Each decision will be taken individually,” Nabiullina told a briefing when queried about the finance ministry’s proposal, adding that Western regulators’ position towards subsidiaries of Russian banks abroad will be considered when domestic deals are evaluated.
Buy Crypto NowSources told Reuters in July that Russia’s central bank is dismissing domestic calls to take over the operations of foreign lenders’ local businesses, worried in part that this could cause depositors to withdraw funds.
Nabiullina said on Friday:
“Currently, there are no grounds for introducing external management at foreign banks’ units.”
Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) has been blocked from selling shares in its Russian business by a Moscow court which also instructed the seizure of 10 million euros from the Swiss bank after it lacked to pay back a loan to a bank affected by sanctions.
