impose a host of sanctions against Russian entities and individuals, thereby freezing the assets of all major banks from the transcontinental nation, including VTB. The Moscow-based bank is majority owned by the Russian state, with interests in banking assets across Europe. With legislation to ban major Russian firms from raising finance on UK markets due to be tabled next week, the state-owned bank, with assets totalling £154 billion, has been suspended from the major stock exchange with immediate effect.
“Sanctions are a reality for us over the last few years and another round of politically motivated anti-Russian sanctions did not come as a surprise,” VTB said in a statement following the announcement.
Explaining the significance of the LSE’s decision, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “You have to be a member of the LSE to trade on it, so if VTB Capital’s membership has been suspended it will not be able to trade in secondary markets in equities, bonds, derivatives, ETFs and any other instruments offered on the LSE platform, or, presumably, raise capital for other firms (or the Russian state) via its primary/advisory arms.” He added that this does not mean VTB Capital’s parent company cannot have presence or lend in London or that its stock be suspended. However, “VTB Capital won’t be able to trade in any stock or debt or derivative instruments related to the parent, I would assume,” he noted.
