27.03.2026, 17:57
Life has been simplified for holders of Russian government debt
Source: OREANDA-NEWS
OREANDA-NEWS Euroclear has relaxed the rules for payments related to frozen Russian assets. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to sources.
European holders of Russian foreign currency bonds (government debt) have had their lives simplified and opened the way to receiving payments that were frozen due to international sanctions. For this purpose, they were allowed to conduct some transactions in the interests of foreign investors who are not American citizens without the permission of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department (OFAC).
After the sanctions were imposed, foreign investors could not receive payments on Eurobonds from Russia through standard channels. As a workaround, Moscow proposed using the foreign assets of Russian investors frozen in Euroclear accounts, compensating them with rubles provided by foreigners. This required the approval of the Belgian and US authorities. Now that Euroclear has abandoned the need to obtain such permits, lawyers expect that more and more investors will demand payment of the money that has accumulated over the past years.
According to experts, Euroclear will be able to process the transaction itself by transferring money from its account to another, and each request will be reviewed individually by the clearing house compliance department.
"This is a kind of asset exchange that has so far operated only on the Russian side, while the European part has remained blocked in practice, despite the existence of a legislative framework," explained Gleb Boyko, a sanctions lawyer at Moscow—based Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners.
In 2025, Alexander Danilov, Director of the Central Bank's Banking Regulation and Analytics Department, accused banks of not being sufficiently active in resolving the issue of blocked assets.
According to the representative of the Central Bank, banks are allowed to create a special legal entity by the end of 2026 and transfer assets and liabilities frozen due to sanctions to its balance sheet. This will allow the creation of an independent company with which foreign creditors could interact to settle and offset blocked assets and liabilities.
European holders of Russian foreign currency bonds (government debt) have had their lives simplified and opened the way to receiving payments that were frozen due to international sanctions. For this purpose, they were allowed to conduct some transactions in the interests of foreign investors who are not American citizens without the permission of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department (OFAC).
After the sanctions were imposed, foreign investors could not receive payments on Eurobonds from Russia through standard channels. As a workaround, Moscow proposed using the foreign assets of Russian investors frozen in Euroclear accounts, compensating them with rubles provided by foreigners. This required the approval of the Belgian and US authorities. Now that Euroclear has abandoned the need to obtain such permits, lawyers expect that more and more investors will demand payment of the money that has accumulated over the past years.
According to experts, Euroclear will be able to process the transaction itself by transferring money from its account to another, and each request will be reviewed individually by the clearing house compliance department.
"This is a kind of asset exchange that has so far operated only on the Russian side, while the European part has remained blocked in practice, despite the existence of a legislative framework," explained Gleb Boyko, a sanctions lawyer at Moscow—based Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners.
In 2025, Alexander Danilov, Director of the Central Bank's Banking Regulation and Analytics Department, accused banks of not being sufficiently active in resolving the issue of blocked assets.
According to the representative of the Central Bank, banks are allowed to create a special legal entity by the end of 2026 and transfer assets and liabilities frozen due to sanctions to its balance sheet. This will allow the creation of an independent company with which foreign creditors could interact to settle and offset blocked assets and liabilities.
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