Belgian Euroclear unblocks Russian assets without US permission – media
2 November 02:16
Russian brokers were able to withdraw US-origin securities from the Belgian Euroclear depository, which were unlocked under a license from the Belgian Treasury, without obtaining a license from the US regulator OFAC, according to sources in Russian propaganda media, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
According to propaganda media, there are already several successful cases.
After European sanctions against Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NSD) were imposed in 2022, Russian investors’ assets were blocked in the European depositories Euroclear and Clearstream. The initial estimate of the amount of frozen funds was about 6 trillion rubles, with approximately 20% of this amount belonging to individuals. Most of the Russian assets frozen in Europe – just over €200 billion – are locked in the Euroclear depository in Belgium.
Last summer, Euroclear informed NSD that it would now need to obtain OFAC authorization to unblock assets with links to US jurisdiction. Since then, the regulator has not issued a single license.
Now, Belgian lawyers working with their Russian counterparts have managed to convince Euroclear’s lawyers that the OFAC license requirement is “redundant and unnecessary.”
A number of successful cases have been implemented by the media source. Several more transfers without an OFAC license are now being launched in test mode, the media noted.
Brussels’ position on Russia’s assets
On October 23, Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Vever said that the country would block the confiscation of Russia’s frozen assets unless the European Union shares the risks. According to him, if Russian funds are used, EU countries should prepare for retaliatory measures against Western assets in Russia and in friendly countries.
The politician also reminded that “even during the Second World War, no one touched frozen assets”.
Politico noted that de Wever “took an uncompromising stance” and “derailed the deal” that European officials had been working on for months. The publication called him a “bad boy”. The article also called German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico “bad boys.”
Half of the assets of Russian investors have been unfrozen
This week, Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said that half of the Russian investors’ assets frozen since 2022 have been unfrozen.
“Half of these assets have been unfrozen during this time (since 2022),” she said during a meeting of the State Duma’s monetary policy committees for the period from 2026 to 2028.
In February, Nabiullina said that she had managed to return about 570 billion rubles of Russian investors blocked in Western countries. These were securities and coupons that had been frozen. The funds were returned to 1.5 million people.
The head of the Central Bank noted that the regulator, together with the government, was working on various schemes to help return the money of those investors who were not subject to Western restrictions.
