Eurozone rakes in profits from frozen Russian assets

One of the world’s largest financial securities transactions companies, Euroclear, has revealed that it has made a huge profit from Russian assets that have been frozen under sanctions.

In the performance report for the first six months of the year, released on Monday, Euroclear stated that “As a result of sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and other jurisdictions… the cash on the balance sheet has increased as blocked coupon payments and redemptions accumulate.” The statement goes on to specify that “the interest income earned from frozen assets held as a result of Russian sanctions was €110 million (about $112 million).”

The Belgium-based organization settles and clears securities trades executed on European exchanges. Euroclear also serves as a central securities depository for major financial institutions involved in European markets. It was reported in June that Euroclear blocked about $27 billion-worth of securities belonging to Russian individuals.

According to US Treasury Department data, following the introduction of international sanctions against Russia, a multinational task force has frozen $30 billion in funds belonging to sanctioned Russian individuals and $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets.

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