Financial watchdog orders “protective measures” at Sberbank Switzerland
The Swiss financial regulator has ordered protective measures to mitigate the risk of “liquidity problems” at the Zurich subsidiary of the Russian bank Sberbank.
This content was posted on March 5, 2022 – 12:35 PM
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According to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the measures, which include a 60-day deferral of the bank’s obligations from deposits and a far-reaching ban on payments and transactions, are “to protect creditors”. said on Fridayexternal link.
Although the Switzerland-based bank is not part of the Sberbank Europe Group, which has been hit hard by EU and US sanctions, FINMA said it was nonetheless “at risk of liquidity problems” due to the “tightened international sanctions”.
Earlier this week, Sberbank Switzerland announced that it would continue normal operations even after other parts of the group withdraw from the rest of Europe.
According to FINMA, the bank has now “decided not to do any more new business for the time being and is restructuring and largely reducing its business activities”.
The regulator has also ordered the bank not to make any payments or transactions that are “not necessary for its operation as a bank”.
FINMA will appoint an investigator to monitor the bank’s financial stability, equal treatment of creditors and the bank’s organizational structure.
More sanctions
On Friday, the Swiss Bankers Association expelled from its ranks the Swiss subsidiaries of Sberbank and Gazprombank. The association condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said it stands behind the sanctions decided by the Swiss government.
Following the first series of sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU earlier this week, the Swiss government further action takenexternal link on Friday – including some financial institutions – as part of international efforts to ban Russia from the SWIFT financial transactions system.
Sberbank Switzerland has around 250 corporate clients, mainly from the commodity and commodity trading sectorexternal link. It employs around 100 people and had a profit of 58 million Swiss francs ($63 million) in 2020.
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