Presidential decree to permit investors to sell frozen foreign securities using funds from 'C' accounts - Russian Central Bank

MOSCOW. Aug 23 (Interfax) - The draft presidential decree, as prepared by the Russian government and the Central Bank of Russia, envisages the possibility of acquiring frozen securities belonging to Russian investors by using funds from Type C accounts, the CBR's press service told Interfax.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Tuesday said that the government and the CBR had prepared a draft decree on launching the exchange of frozen assets belonging to Russian and foreign investors, with plans to unfreeze about 100 billion rubles in accounts at the initial stage. Siluanov said that over 3.5 million Russian citizens currently have frozen assets totaling 1.5 trillion rubles.

"It is assumed that conditions will be established for 'unfreezing' assets primarily for retail investors at the initial stage. Interested foreign investors will be granted the opportunity to purchase the corresponding 'frozen' foreign securities from Russian investors using funds held in Type C accounts," the CBR's press service reported.

The participation of Russian and foreign investors in the process will be voluntary, the regulator noted. "The presidential decree and corresponding legal acts will outline the detailed procedure for releasing assets and related operations," the CBR added.