Extremely eye news reporter Zhang Yang
On March 10, local time, goldman Sachs, a well-known international investment bank, said it was "gradually shutting down its operations in Russia in accordance with regulatory and licensing requirements."
The Wall Street giant was the first major Western bank to pull out of Russia after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and more could pull out in the future, involving tens of billions of dollars in flows, CNN reported.
Goldman Sachs Group
In the aftermath of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Western societies imposed punitive sanctions on most of Russia's financial institutions, including their central banks and top commercial banks, while Western banks scrambled to calculate their exposure to Russian capital (referring to unprotected risk).
According to the Bank for International Settlements, Russian entities owe more than $121 billion to international banks. Among them, European banks have total claims of more than $84 billion, of which France, Italy and Austria have the largest exposures, while American banks are owed $14.7 billion. The banking group suspended Russian membership on March 10.
Banks lose money differently, ranging from a billion dollars to tens of billions of dollars
While financial sanctions have been imposed, some Western companies have pulled out of Russia's economic system, so rating agencies have warned that Russia's debt defaults are imminent.
Fitch Ratings previously warned that "the assets of large European banks will be affected by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and their operations face greater risks once sanctions are imposed." ”
Societe Generale (SCGLF) said last week that its exposure to risk in Russia was close to $21 billion as of the end of last year. But it "will comply with all laws and regulations and strictly enforce international sanctions." ”
"In this case, the group will likely be stripped of its assets in Russia, but is confident that it should be countered to this potential extreme consequence," the bank said. ”
BNPQF said on Wednesday that its exposure to Russia and Ukraine totaled $3.3 billion.
Italy's Yuxin Bank (UNCFF), which has been operating in Russia since 1989, also said last week that its branches in Russia were "highly liquid and self-funded" and that franchises accounted for only 3 percent of the bank's revenue. On Tuesday, it said its total exposure to Russia was about $8.1 billion.
Credit Suisse (CS) said thursday that it had about $1.1 billion in risk exposure in Russia.
Deutsche Bank (DB) said in a statement on Wednesday that its exposure to Russia was "limited," at about $1.5 billion. The bank said it had significantly reduced its exposure to Russia since 2014 and had taken further action over the past two weeks.
Citibank Group of the United States disclosed last week that its total exposure to Russia was about $10 billion.
The bank's chief financial officer, Mark Mason, told investors that the bank had been assessing the consequences "in different circumstances." In the worst case scenario, he said, the bank could lose about half of its exposure funds. While Citi said wednesday it would minimize risks, given the political and economic environment, it may be difficult to find a receiver.
While banks have exposures of varying sizes, the ECB said on Thursday that the European financial system has sufficient liquidity and limited pressure, speaking about the risks facing the banking sector.
"Russia is important in energy markets, commodity trading, but in terms of the risk exposure of the financial sector, especially the European financial sector, russia is only general," said Govindez, deputy governor of the European Central Bank. The financial pressure he has caused is not even comparable to what was happening in the early days of COVID-19. ”
Russia: If you don't want it, we'll take care of it
CNN's analysis notes that since Goldman Sachs has already begun to move, other banks with greater exposure to risks may soon follow in its footsteps and leave Russia.
On March 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said russia's economic situation was "absolutely unprecedented" and accused the West of waging an "economic war."
Dmitry Medvedev, vice chairman of the Russian Federal Security Council, said Russia would respond harshly to the sanctions imposed by the West.
Medvedev
The Russian Satellite News Agency quoted Medvedev as saying on social networks: "Western politicians are exerting pressure on the shareholders of these companies to force these people to obey their own will, and they do not take into account that these companies do not want to leave Russia." ”
Medvedev also said the government was preparing countermeasures, saying: "They have actually abandoned their companies in Russia and left them at the mercy of fate." The Russian government is already working on measures, including bankrupting and nationalizing the assets of these foreign organizations. ”
Russian President Vladimir Putin also said decisive action needs to be taken against foreign companies that withdraw from the Russian market, and external management needs to be introduced.
According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Putin said at the government meeting: "We ourselves will not close to anyone, we welcome those foreign partners who want to cooperate, and the government should pay attention to protecting the rights of foreign investors who are willing to stay and work in Russia." But for those who are ready to close their businesses, decisive action is needed. As the Prime Minister of government suggested, external management needs to be introduced to hand over these businesses to those who want to work. ”
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