Accelerating withdrawal of investment from Russia, Russia responds by banning asset sales | Reuters

[London, 1st Archyde.com]-The Russian government announced on the 1st that it will temporarily ban the sale of Russian assets by foreign investors amid strong western sanctions against Russia and accelerated withdrawal of investment from the country. The aim is to put a stop to the withdrawal.

On March 1, the Kremlin announced that it would temporarily ban the sale of Russian assets by foreign investors amid strong western sanctions on Russia and accelerated withdrawal of investment from the country. Taken in May 2017 in Moscow’s Business Center District (2022 Archyde.com / Sergei Karpukhin)

Russian assets plummeted in one day trading. London-listed iShares MSCI Russia ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) fell 50% at one point, hitting a new low.

BlackRock, a major US asset manager, said yesterday that it is in talks with regulators, index calculators and other market participants to allow clients to take positions in Russian securities to the extent permitted.

Steven Burd, CEO of British asset management giant Abrdn, said he is investing around £ 2 billion in client funds in Russia and Belarus and is cutting positions. He also said he would not invest in both countries for the time being.

British hedge fund Man Group has reduced its investment in Russia in recent weeks, saying it currently has very little exposure to Russia and Ukraine.

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International is considering withdrawing from Russia, according to people familiar with the matter. The bank has no plans to withdraw.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced on the 1st that he will temporarily ban the sale of Russian assets by foreign investors. He tried to be able to make a deliberate decision, not political pressure.

Under these circumstances, the British asset management company Lion Trust stopped trading Russian funds.

Eleven funds investing in Russia have been suspended, with total assets under management of € 4.4 billion ($ 4.9 billion) as of the end of January, according to a spokeswoman for rating agency Fitch.

In addition, card giants Visa and Mastercard have eliminated multiple Russian financial institutions from their payment networks.

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) of Germany has revealed that it is closely watching the situation of Russia’s VTB Bank European division.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) announced on the 1st that it will suspend trading of two types of Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) of VTB Bank.

The German securities management company has expanded the securities subject to suspension to Russian bonds.