MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. SPB Exchange and SPB Bank are in talks with Hong Kong companies, while non-US securities may be unblocked faster, according to a presentation released on the website of SPB Bank.

The removal of SPB Bank from the list of US blocking sanctions, as well as issuance of a new special license for Russian investors and explanation of existing general licenses by OFAC, are planned as part of the strategy for unblocking assets, the presentation said.

Earlier, SPB Exchange said it had green-lighted a strategy for unblocking assets, which presupposes that the bourse’s settlement depository will request approval from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Moreover, SPB Exchange intends to carve the settlement depository out from under its control via reducing the bourse’s stake in the depository’s equity capital.