MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia welcomes any steps towards solving investors' frozen assets problem, yet a license that has been granted by Luxembourg’s finance ministry for the National Settlement Depository (NSD, used for serving securities) should be thoroughly analyzed, a source in the regulator’s press service told TASS on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the NSD had been granted the first general license from the European regulator, Luxembourg’s finance ministry, which permits the transfer of assets of non-sanctioned investors from the NSD to other places.
"We welcome any steps aimed at solving investors' problems with blocked foreign securities. As for the license issued to the NSD by the European regulator, the document requires careful study. Additional comments are premature," the Central Bank said.
In June, the European Union imposed sanctions against the National Settlement Depository. Meanwhile, the NSD had been under restrictions levied by international depositaries, Euroclear and Clearstream, since February, which resulted in freezing of some securities of Russian investors, as well as payments of dividends and coupons. The European Commission clarified in early October that as part of the posted sanctions package the competent authorities of a EU member-state have the right to authorize the release of money or assets held by NSD.