Payments went to someone else’s account – Kommersant FM
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Brokers began paying investors income in rubles on frozen foreign securities. Several major players immediately received funds from the National Settlement Depository for dividends and coupons. On December 25, money began to flow to private investors, BCS World of Investments reported. The Sberbank broker has been making payments since December 20. The operations are carried out as part of the execution of Vladimir Putin’s decree of September 9, 2023. According to it, Russians can count on receiving income from securities frozen abroad. Money is paid to them from type “I” accounts, where dividends of foreigners who owned Ministry of Finance bonds are kept.
Moreover, the decree applies only to income that was received before September 9, 2023. Therefore, the payment process will not be quick, noted investment lawyer Elena Ryazanova: “Now the first stage is underway – these are dividends on foreign shares, on ADR on foreign securities for individuals and management companies. The second stage is also partially covered – these are payments on foreign Eurobonds.
From the point of view of dividends, since they covered the entire first phase, the total amount is quite large. But since the second stage is probably the largest in terms of the volume of payments, small amounts are still coming there, because there are a lot of investors, there were also a lot of all kinds of Eurobonds in their portfolios. At the same time, it is clear that this payment, of course, did not have enough money for everyone, because we have not even finished the second phase yet.
The mechanism is approximately the following – now every three months some money will be received to pay off this priority established by the decree. Sooner or later, they will be enough to cover all pending payments for the period from February 1, 2022 to September 8, 2023.
For now, the dynamics of these payments are simply not very clear, and how long will it take – a year, two, five? If this story goes well, at a fast pace and we pay all investors the funds in a year or two, then perhaps the decree will then be extended to payments that were made after September 8, 2023.”
Meanwhile, the Central Bank revealed the volume of foreign assets that investors owned on the St. Petersburg Exchange. By the beginning of November, it amounted to $3 billion. All these funds were frozen after the site came under American sanctions.
“Kommersant FM” contacted Andrey Ryabinin, partner of the Delcredere Bar Association, who represents the interests of St. Petersburg Bank. This is the settlement depository of the exchange. He told what strategy the company has chosen to protect the interests of investors and how soon they can count on unblocking the securities:
“The American stock market is the bulk of the investments that have been blocked. With regard to this part, SPB Bank is actively negotiating with the regulator in the United States in order to most effectively develop some kind of centralized solution that could allow the assets of non-sanctioned investors to either be transferred outside the perimeter of SPB Bank or remain within it. But in the case of this scenario, we are talking about removing St. Petersburg Bank from sanctions by reducing the control of St. Petersburg Exchange to those values that will suit the American regulator.
Active negotiations are also underway with depositories in Hong Kong. They are not, strictly speaking, required to comply with US sanctions, so there is some hope that the tools can be unlocked. It is difficult to say whether this will happen, or whether foreign counterparties from friendly jurisdictions will demand some positions from the American regulator.
I cannot say that the situation is cloudless. I cannot say unequivocally that no action will be required on the part of the investor or that sooner or later he will definitely be given access to his investments. Some new sanctions restrictions may be introduced. OFAC may well impose some kind of unlocking requirements. In the case of the Belgian Treasury, the requirement is, for example, to have accounts in the European Union.
Now, rather, investors have a choice: either wait until SPB Bank achieves certain results in negotiations with the American authorities, or move on their own. But we understand that an individual track may not be available to everyone and may not be practical for everyone.”
The Russian authorities thought about the future of the St. Petersburg Exchange after it came under sanctions and lost the ability to offer foreign securities to investors. The State Duma stated back in November that the platform could switch to cryptocurrency trading. Now deputies propose to connect the company to cross-border transfers in tokens.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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