Russian authorities have yet to make decision on sale of HSBC subsidiary - deputy finance minister

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - Russian authorities have not yet made a decision on granting British HSBC permission to sell its subsidiary bank in Russia, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told reporters.

The departure of foreign banks from the Russian market is complicated by the presidential decree prohibiting persons from unfriendly countries from conduct transactions with shares of Russian banks. In this case, the President reserves the right to permit the sale of shares via a special decision. To do this, the application must be submitted to the presidential administration, which in turn, if it deems it necessary, sends it to the ministries concerned, the deputy minister explained.

"The application has been received (by the Finance Ministry], but the decision has not yet been made," he said.

Last July, HSBC announced that it had signed an agreement to sell 100% of its subsidiary to Expobank, but the parties have not yet received approval from Russian regulatory authorities. HSBC in its reporting provided a date for the sale of the Russian subsidiary - H1 2023, but did not provide any new information about obtaining approval from the Russian authorities for the deal. HSBC classified HSBC Bank as an asset for sale, showing a loss of $0.3 billion for 2022.