OREANDA-NEWS Major Israeli banks have begun to restrict transactions on securities accounts of Russians, even if they have an Israeli passport. The founder of the international financial company SmartGen Ltd, Mark Oigman, was the first to draw attention to this.

The requirement to start segregating (separating) accounts to credit institutions was put forward by one of the largest clearing systems in the world, Euroclear. The Belgian Depository has been using this practice for some time inside and outside the European Union. Luxembourg's Clearstream, the second main clearing system in Europe, may also join the restrictions.

Starting on November 13, when the Euroclear ban came into force, Israeli banks began massively blocking brokerage accounts of Russians. Segregation concerns securities held in the accounts of Russian citizens or Russian tax residents in the European depository. After the "separation", the assets are transferred to a separate account, from which, in the worst case, the securities cannot be sold. It is also impossible to withdraw funds from such accounts, but coupons can be withdrawn if the volume of transactions does not exceed 100 thousand euros per year to one account, lawyer Eli Gerwitz shared with RBC.