Targeting the Russian banking sector
Cutting Russia’s access to capital markets of the EU increases borrowing and transaction costs for sanctioned entities and gradually erodes Russia’s industrial base.
Measures include prohibiting
- any form of lending to and buying of securities issued by certain Russian banks and government (including the Central Bank)
- all transactions with certain Russian state-owned enterprises across different sectors – the Kremlin’s military-industrial complex
- export of banknotes and the sale of transferable securities in all EU official currencies
- rating of Russia and Russian companies by EU credit rating agencies and the provision of rating services to Russian clients
- the provision of high-value crypto asset services to Russia and all crypto-asset wallets, irrespective of the amount
- business services, directly or indirectly, such as accounting, auditing, statutory audit, bookkeeping and tax consulting services, IT consultancy, legal advisory, architecture and engineering services, management consultancy, public relations, market research and public opinion polling, technical testing and analysis, advertising, and rating services
- advice to wealthy Russians regarding financial planning and trusts and banning their big deposits in EU banks
- Russian nationals from governing bodies in Member States’ critical infrastructure
The EU has imposed assets freezes and financing bans on a number of Russian banks and is blocking Russia’s EU-held foreign exchange reserves by
- excluding key Russian banks from the SWIFT system, the world’s dominant financial messaging system – this measure stops these banks from conducting their financial transactions worldwide in a fast and efficient manner
- banning investment in projects co-financed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund