MADRID, 7 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Swiss bank UBS has acknowledged having an exposure of just under 10 million dollars (9.2 million euros) in loans granted to various Russian businessmen sanctioned by Western powers, although it has not explicitly mentioned any of them.
In its annual report, published this Monday, the Swiss entity has explained that it has identified a “small number” of clients of its global wealth management division that were subject to the sanctions. The value of current credits at the time of preparation of the report (March 3) amounted to about 10 million.
On the other hand, direct exposure to Russia was 634 million dollars (583 million euros), just 3% of the bank’s total exposure to emerging markets. This figure includes exposure to export financing through its corporate and retail banking division, a loan from its investment banking division to a non-Russian firm, various cash balances and various financial derivatives.
“UBS is also monitoring the settlement risk of certain open transactions with Russian banks and non-bank counterparties in the event that the closure of the Exchange, the imposition of exchange rate controls, sanctions or other measures may limit our ability to settle transactions or take over guarantees”, explained the bank.
Likewise, UBS had an exposure of 200 million (184 million euros) for having accepted Russian assets as collateral in Lombard loans and other types of secured financing mechanisms.
“We are working to implement the sanctions imposed by Switzerland, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others, all of whom have announced unprecedented levels of sanctions against Russia and Russian citizens. These developments, along with the counter-sanctions and other measures taken by Russia, will have lingering effects on markets and the global economy,” said UBS Chairman and CEO Axel Weber and Ralph Hammers, respectively.