PARIS, November 15. /TASS/. Valerie Urbain, head of the Belgium-based international depository Euroclear, is prepared to take legal action to block any European Commission or EU Council order to confiscate frozen Russian assets, she told Le Monde in an interview.
"There are laws. Depending on the legal framework, we will decide what we can and are willing to do," she said. According to Urbain, it is not out of the question that Euroclear could turn to the courts if EU institutions attempt to compel the depository to proceed with such a measure. She added that since 2022, the company’s legal department has expanded from a dozen to 200 employees.
Russian assets totaling 193 bln euro — including 180 bln euro in sovereign assets of the Bank of Russia — frozen in Euroclear accounts represent only fractions of a percent of the depository’s total holdings, which amount to 42.5 trillion euro. Urbain believes that confiscation of these funds, even indirectly, risks harming the entire eurozone. She explained that representatives of other countries have expressed deep concern to her about such a scenario, and that if Russia’s money is used, for example, to finance a loan to Ukraine, international investors will reduce investment in the eurozone which in turn would negatively affect all of Europe’s financial needs.