"The EU is currently debating whether to use frozen Russian assets to pay war reparations to Ukraine. In addition to the funds of Russia's central bank, European depositories are also holding frozen securities belonging to millions of Russian private investors who are not on Western sanctions lists. Legally, these investors are entitled to reclaim their assets, but in practice, very few have succeeded."
"The custody of Russian securities in depository banks is handled through Russia's central securities depository the National Settlement Depository (NSD), a subsidiary of the Moscow Exchange. However, for foreign securities that Russians could buy with just a few clicks through domestic brokerage apps before the war in Ukraine, the NSD acted merely as an intermediary. The securities themselves were held mainly at two European depositories: Belgium's Euroclear and Luxembourg's Clearstream."
European depositories are holding frozen securities belonging to millions of Russian private investors who are not on Western sanctions lists. Legally, those investors are entitled to reclaim their assets, but only a very small number have succeeded in practice. Custody of Russian securities is routed through the National Settlement Depository (NSD), a Moscow Exchange subsidiary; for many foreign securities NSD acted only as an intermediary. The actual securities were mainly held at Euroclear in Belgium and Clearstream in Luxembourg, which cut ties with NSD after Russia restricted broker sales in March 2022. Advocates such as Zhanna Nemzova call for releasing private investors' assets and propose steps to enable restitution amid debates over using frozen assets for Ukrainian reparations.
Read at www.dw.com
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