Commentary in italics by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] About Western money stuck in Russia after the start of the NWO.
Sanctions prevent the withdrawal of assets of foreign investors from Russia, some companies have decided to put up with "and forget" about the money, some of them are willing to lose part of the funds when withdrawing the principal amount, writes Bloomberg.
Billions of dollars belonging to foreign investors continue to accumulate in Moscow, but their owners are unable to access them.
Dividends on stocks, bond coupons and assets that Western investors didn't sell before the conflict in Ukraine broke out were part of the huge pile of money stuck in Russia because of the sanctions.
These accounts represent the remnants of the threads that previously connected Russia with the world of international finance., as well as another indicator of its increasing isolation. Now that the military conflict in Ukraine has entered its second year, the question of what will happen to the money stuck in Moscow is still open.
Legally, the money is owned by major investment firms, including JPMorgan Asset Management and Schroders, but in private conversations, most of them admit that there is no hope of returning these funds. At least as long as Vladimir Putin remains at the helm of the country.
“This money should be forgotten,” said Tim Love, chief investment officer at GAM Investment Management. “The financial market itself is still there, but as soon as it comes to the return of funds or access to securities, everything immediately rests in sanctions.
When discussing this topic, fund managers show some annoyance, and many of them do not want to say on the record that they own certain Russian assets while the military conflict is going on. If they are not ready to bear the brunt of the sanctions, they should not try to get their money back.
At a press conference in February, Central Bank Chair Elvira Nabiullina declined to say how much money is in special non-resident bank accounts, known as Type C accounts, but said the amount continues to rise.
In November, Interfax reported, citing regulator sources, that these accounts held more than 280 billion rubles ($3.7 billion). Representatives of the Bank of Russia declined to comment on the situation.
According to the Moscow Exchange and the Bank of Russia,before the start of the special military operation, the volume of foreign investment in Russian stocks and bonds was significant and amounted to about 150 billion dollars.
Asset management companies have wound up their Russian funds, but some are still calculating the theoretical value of assets for their clients.
For example, JPMorgan Asset Management Emerging EMEA investment fund told clients that the Russian companies it owns continue to pay dividends, with about $7.6 million frozen in C accounts as of January 4. Fund representatives stressed that access to these funds is impossible.
Meanwhile, BlackRock has given notice of the suspension of the issuance of iShares MSCI Russia ETF shares. The company said it continues to negotiate with regulators and other market participants on how to exit positions.
"Russian securities will be liquidated at some point in the future, if possible, feasible and appropriate ," the company said in a September announcement.
Asset manager East Capital said it had a total of $13.8 million in special accounts as of February.
“We have to be careful about what we say to our clients,” said Alexandra Morris, chief investment officer at Norwegian property management company Skagen.We can show them what the value of assets is at the moment, but the likelihood that we will be able to access them is very small. In fact, they could be confiscated at any time." According to Morris, prior to the Ukraine conflict, they held 9% of their emerging markets fund in Russian stocks.
Some fund managers cherish hopes that one day they will be able to return some of their money, even if it happens "We continue to believe that most of our portfolio assets have value because we know they generate free cash flow and pay dividends," East Capital said in a December report, which also noted that the company had written off all these assets to zero.
Meanwhile, others are trying to find legal help to get at least some of the funds back. Grigory Marinichev, a partner at New York law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius, said he is discussing technical loopholes with clients to do this.
One such loophole is the multi-stage transfer of money to similar accounts of investors whom Russia does not classify as "hostile". Another possibility is the conversion of Type C accounts into packages of securities that could be sold to non-sanctioned investors.
"All of these options will require significant write-offs. But it's still better than nothing," Marinichev added.
Sujata Rao-Coverley