BERLIN, June 26. /TASS/. Deutsche Bank has told its clients that it can no longer guarantee full access to Russian stocks that belong to them, Reuters reported Monday citing a note viewed by the agency.

Deutsche Bank has uncovered a shortfall in the shares that back the depositary receipts (DRs), which the bank issued before Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, and which have been held in Russia by a different depositary bank, Reuters said. In the circular, Germany's largest bank attributed the shortfall to a decision by Moscow to allow investors to convert some of the DRs into local stock, the agency noted. The conversion was carried out without the German bank's "involvement or oversight" and Deutsche was unable to reconcile the company shares with the depositary receipts, according to the agency.

Deutsche Bank is the first major bank to formally inform depositary receipt holders that they may not get take ownership of precisely all the shares they are entitled to, Reuters said citing two sources advising investors who continue to hold Russian DRs.

Depositary receipts are certificates issued by a bank representing shares in a foreign company traded on a local stock exchange. Swapping DRs for shares in the Russian company is a first step towards an effort to recover their money, according to Reuters.