Foreign banks had problems trying to sell Russian ‘daughters’

13:11 - 17.01.2023


January 17, Fineko/abc.az. Advisers to Western banks trying to leave Russia complain about the inability to sell Russian subsidiaries due to a law introduced by Vladimir Putin that allows transactions with foreign banks only with a special permit.

ABC.AZ reports with reference to the Financial Times (FT) that the list of banks subject to the ban includes 46 credit institutions, including Raiffeisenbank, Unicredit, Citibank, Deutsche Bank.

Unnamed banking consultants fear that intervention of the Russian president will interfere with some transactions that have already been agreed, and "radically change the terms" of other transactions. They expect that the already agreed sale amounts will "fall by half", as the Kremlin "will have more influence on transactions". "There are some very influential Russians with close ties to the Kremlin who are trying to use their influence to seize these organizations from fleeing foreigners", one of the sources told the FT. He did not specify which Russians and banks he was talking about.

In particular, after the entry into force of the presidential decree, the deal on the sale of the HSBC Bank - the "daughter" of HSBC - was suspended. It was supposed to be bought by Russian Expobank, the deal was agreed in the summer of 2022, before the decree of Mr. Putin. HSBC said they were trying to complete the deal. According to the FT source, Expobank should also get the approval of the president.

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