For the first time, permission was issued to unlock assets in Euroclear in relation to an individual without a European residence permit
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“Kommersant” became aware of the issuance of a second permit to unlock assets in Euroclear in relation to a bank and the first in relation to an individual without a residence permit in a European country. Experts note that it is easier to unfreeze funds than securities. Also, the chance for a positive decision increases if a European depository or a bank is indicated as a place for the transfer of assets. But even the fulfillment of all the criteria does not guarantee anything, and one cannot count on a quick unlocking of assets for a wide range of investors, experts believe.
According to Delcredere, its clients (a bank in the top 100 and a top manager) on June 27 received permission to unlock assets in Euroclear from the Belgian regulator. The name of the bank and the name of the top manager were not disclosed. The amount of unblocked assets (money from the redemption of Eurobonds) amounted to $10 million.
According to Andriy Timchuk, co-head of the sanctions practice at the Delcredere Bar Association, for the first time, an application for the release of assets was granted both in relation to the applicant himself (the bank) and in relation to a third party (the top manager of the bank). At the same time, the bank employee did not have a residence permit of any European country, Mr. Timchuk notes.
The experts interviewed by Kommersant are aware of only isolated cases of satisfied applications for the release of assets, while the applicant always had citizenship or a residence permit in the EU countries.
The total number of examples does not exceed ten. The first permission to unlock received the bank “Saint-Petersburg”.
The requirement for the presence of European documents was initially included in the list of necessary documents in order to apply for an unlock, says Maria Chumanova, managing partner of FTL Advisers. At the same time, compliance with all criteria, according to Pavel Kutovoy, Advisor to Stonebridge Legal’s Banking and Financial Law practice, does not guarantee anything — “among our clients there were persons who met all these requirements, but no decisions have yet been made on their applications.”
A year ago, the Central Bank estimated the volume of blocked Russian assets in NSD’s accounts with foreign depositories at 6 trillion rubles. At the same time, according to Interfax, which refers to Euroclear reporting, income from frozen Russian assets brought the depositary €821 million last year and already €734 million in the first quarter of this year.
Andrey Timchuk clarified that it would not be possible to immediately transfer the unlocked funds to the Russian Federation; at the first stage, the assets should remain in the EU. From Euroclear, the funds will be transferred to the financial institution (in the case of Delcredere customers, the Austrian one), which is declared in the decision to unblock. After that, in case of compliance and other procedures, the funds can be sent outside the EU, including to the Russian Federation (but not in relation to organizations under sanctions).
There is an opinion that the chance for a positive decision increases if it is a European depository or a bank (when it comes to transferring funds), they say in Finam. Alexander Nepomniachtchi, managing partner at Emet law firm, notes that assets in previously satisfied cases moved to Dubai and Russian financial institutions that are not under sanctions.
It is somewhat easier to achieve unfreezing of cash than of securities, at least technically, Mr. Kutovoy believes. In the case of securities, the problem arises of an alternative depository for their storage.
“Far from all applicants have accounts with depositories (other than NSD) that have accounts opened with Euroclear and who are not themselves under sanctions,” the expert notes.
At the same time, Delcredere evaluates the prospects for considering claims in Russian jurisdiction against Euroclear/Clearstream on frozen assets (similar to the bank “St. Petersburg”). There are four lawsuits on frozen assets in the company’s work, Mr. Timchuk said. In addition, another class action lawsuit from private investors is being formed.
However, it is difficult to assess the prospects for unfreezing the assets of a wider range of investors, Pavel Kutovoy believes: “Apparently, before the adoption of some global plan for the exchange of frozen assets (which, as far as we know, is being developed by the Central Bank), one cannot count on a quick solution to the issue.”
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