One of the largest banks in the UAE began to block the investment accounts of Russians

In accordance with the sanctions directive of the European Union, the second largest bank in the UAE began to transfer the assets of Russians to separate accounts with restrictions.Even residents of the UAE fall under them.

Emirates NBD, the second largest bank in the UAE, has begun blocking investment accounts of Russians, Forbes writes, citing letters that the bank's customers began to receive.

The ENBD reported that the restrictions were introduced in accordance with the EU directive. They do not apply to residents of the EU, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, but residents of the UAE do.

The assets of Russians in ENBD will be transferred to a separate segregated account, the withdrawal of funds from which will be limited. Any coupons and dividends, as well as proceeds from the sale of securities, will be transferred to it. It is not possible to transfer them from this separate account to ENBD.

Russians will be able to sell securities from an account only using the Free-Of-Payment (FOP) mechanism. Unlike the Delivery Versus Payment (DVP) mechanism, where the security and money are transferred at the same time, this principle means that the seller first transfers the security to the buyer and only then receives the money. As Forbes notes, such a mechanism creates additional risks for the seller.

A Forbes source familiar with the situation explained that ENBD uses the services of Clearstream and Euroclear depositories. Last year, after the imposition of EU sanctions against Russia, these depositories froze the securities of Russians held by them. However, it was possible to gain access to assets by transferring them to a “friendly” jurisdiction, for example, to the UAE, which was used by many who fell under the restrictions.

A March study by the analytical company Frank RG showed that the UAE turned out to be one of the most popular destinations for the withdrawal of funds from Russia by wealthy citizens (15.6%). Investments in real estate in the Emirates amounted to 750-800 billion rubles.

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In early March, The Financial Times, citing sources, reported that Western countries, led by the United States , are pushing the UAE to comply with anti-Russian sanctions, in particular, to stop the export of a number of critical electronic components to Russia. Earlier, Bloomberg wrote that the US authorities are putting pressure on Abu Dhabi because of trade with Russia. According to the agency, Washington has warned the UAE authorities that their maintenance of economic and financial ties with Russia interferes with the West's efforts to put pressure on Moscow.