Russia's VTB suing Euroclear for $38.4 mln
MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - Russian state bank VTB is suing Euroclear Bank for around $38.4 million, according to information from the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Arbitration Court.
VTB filed a lawsuit in March to recover damages from Euroclear Bank SA/NV in connection with the blocking of the bank's own money in an account at the financial institution. Going forward, VTB intends to take all necessary measures to resolve the situation within the bounds of current legislation, the Russian lender's press service told Interfax earlier.
VTB is seeking to recover losses of US$36.6 million, 1.6 million euros, 10,000 Australian dollars, 5,000 pounds sterling, 5,000 Swiss francs and 1,000 Chinese yuan.
The preliminary court hearing will take place on May 15.
Relations between European central depositories Euroclear and Clearstream and the Moscow Exchange Group's National Settlement Depository (NSD) were essentially cut off almost immediately after the start of the events in Ukraine in 2022. At the time, Russia, responding to tough sanctions, imposed currency and capital restrictions, while the European settlement and clearing systems closed ruble "bridges" and the option of settlements in rubles.
The NSD imposed restrictions on transactions on Euroclear and Clearstream accounts at the beginning of March 2022 on the recommendation of the Central Bank of Russia. The European central depositories, in turn, restricted transactions on NSD accounts.
At the beginning of June 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions on the NSD, leading to its accounts being blocked at Euroclear and Clearstream.
Lawsuits against Euroclear in Russian arbitration courts have multiplied recently. In January 2023, the Moscow Arbitration Court ruled in favor of Bank Saint Petersburg in its lawsuit seeking $107.1 million and 489,000 euros from Euroclear. Later the Ninth Arbitration Appellate Court partly changed this ruling at the bank's request, ordering the European depository to pay $107.1 million in the ruble equivalent and taking into account that the claim in euros was dropped. MTS Bank and Rosbank have also won lawsuits against Euroclear.