Sberbank has plan for possible end to yuan trading on exchange - exec

MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Sberbank holds open the possibility of exchange trading in the yuan coming to an end and has come up with a plan in the event this risk materializes, Taras Skvortsov, the bank's senior vice president and head of finance, said during a conference call on Thursday.

"As for the scenario of yuan trading on the exchange being halted, we really do not rule it out, because sanctions are constantly expanding, and new responses to them are emerging. But we have a certain scenario for how to act in this case, and we have an alternative plan for such a situation. I think that one way or another we will provide clients with options on how to work with foreign currency even in such a difficult scenario," he said.

Skvortsov said the situation with yuan liquidity in Russia had worsened recently, and an improvement was not yet in sight.

"The situation with yuan liquidity has worsened over the past month and a half or two. Rates on the market have grown very strongly. We see how players are quite actively taking up swaps provided by the Central Bank, which are generally needed for extreme cases and should not be a permanent liquidity instrument," Skvortsov said.

"The situation with the yuan is quite difficult, and this is reflected in rates, and frankly speaking we do not yet see any prospects for it to somehow improve meaningfully without any significant external factors," he said.

He said all banks were in a difficult situation. The answer to this problem could be a policy for the deforexation of balance sheets, he said.

"There are difficulties for Chinese banks operating on the Russian market, with the sanctions of the Moscow Exchange, with settlements for export-import operations, and so many players prefer not to bring their liquidity to Russia, because this complicates their operations. Naturally, this takes away some of the liquidity," Skvortsov said.