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Russian Bank Bypass sanctions and dollar to pay bondholders in Rubles

Martin Everson

Offshore Retiree
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Jan 2, 2018
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This raises some interesting questions such as:

1. Will bon holders want to be paid in RUB?
2. Will bondholders be able to open an account directly in Russia to receive interest on their investments in RUB outside SWIFT?
3. Could this mean tax avoidance for American investors is possible now being that US voluntarily suspended FATCA with Russia?
4. Has the EU shot itself in the foot by creating in effect a potential parallel banking system outside of SWIFT?
5. Oh....and will foreign governments follow what US did with FATCA and suspend AEOI/CRS with Russia? smi(&%


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ffer-bond-swap-to-bypass-wall-street-plumbing
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Russian Bank Finds Novel Way to Pay Lenders and Bypass Wall Street, Sanctions​


  • Russian lender to launch exchange of Eurobonds for local notes
  • Russian bondholders were paid coupon of USD note in rubles

Sovcombank PJSC will offer a bond swap to its Eurobond holders to bypass the foreign banking web that has been blocking payments of Russian borrowers after sanctions were imposed following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s ninth-largest lender was due to make a $12 million interest payment on notes maturing in 2030 on April 7, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, but the bank said that it would stop payments on four notes issued by an Irish vehicle, Sovcom Capital DAC.

Instead, it paid a ruble coupon on April 21 to those holders with rights to the bonds recorded on Russia’s National Settlement Depository, and will offer a bond swap to foreign holders, the bank said in a statement on Friday.

As making payments “using the methods provided for in the documentation is not yet possible” due to the sanctions, PAO Sovcombank will register a new issue of urgent local subordinated bonds and offer Eurobond holders to exchange them for new Russian ones, it said. “This will enable holders to receive payments directly in Russia, bypassing the international payment infrastructure.”

Firms including Severstal PAO, Russian Railways JSC and Alfa Bank PJSC have missed coupon payments in recent weeks because the funds were held up by foreign intermediaries completing due diligence processes. Russian Railways and state-controlled lender VTB Bank PJSC -- sanctioned in the U.S., the U.K. and the European Union -- said they paid holders of dollar-denominated bonds in rubles in Russia. It remains unclear how easily foreign bondholders can access those funds.


------ quote end
 
I spoke too soon. It seems UK and Germany also suspended tax information exchange with Russia and Belarus. And UK actually did so for CRS since 2019. It also appears Germany will support OECD in excluding Russia from all its bodies meaning no AEOI/CRS and TIA's with Russia at some point is likely.


This is interesting as India and some other countries are setting up direct channels to continue to trade with Russia outside SWIFT.

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UK halts cooperation with Russia on tax information exchanges​

https://cms.law/en/rus/publication/uk-halts-cooperation-with-russia-on-tax-information-exchanges
 
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I spoke too soon. It seems UK and Germany also suspended tax information exchange with Russia and Belarus. And UK actually did so for CRS since 2019. It also appears Germany will support OECD in excluding Russia from all its bodies meaning no AEOI/CRS and TIA's with Russia at some point is likely.


This is interesting as India and some other countries are setting up direct channels to continue to trade with Russia outside SWIFT.

------

UK halts cooperation with Russia on tax information exchanges​

https://cms.law/en/rus/publication/uk-halts-cooperation-with-russia-on-tax-information-exchanges
Seems the CRS transparency terror will soon only apply to EU territories and their vassals (= places which want to get in or are heavily dependent on them).
 
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Seems the CRS transparency terror will soon only apply to EU territories and their vassals (= places which want to get in or are heavily dependent on them).
That's why Ukraine will participate starting 2023, despite the current situation (and data easily ending up in the wrong hands during times of war :rolleyes: ).

and will offer a bond swap to foreign holders,
Problem with this: Depending on citizenship/residency you will find yourself in hot waters when participating.
In case this is an offer which requires a bondholder to be active (vote/order to receive new local bonds against old Eurobonds) this bondholder might violate sanctions!

Take a look at Venezuela: Maduro tried a lot to avoid defaulting but was unable to get Dollars to creditors. Then sanctions hit and made it impossible for creditors of most Western nations to participate in a voluntary exchange of bonds.
 
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What else should they do, if they want to continue business as usual?
They can not continue to do business as usual. That said, this operation is useless and they know it. It is just a way to to show creditors that it is not them who stops paying unilaterally but the West prohibiting them paying Western creditors. Which in turn saves them from overdue claims by creditors when -in a few years time- they can do "business as usual" again.
Time will tell ....
 
Problem with this: Depending on citizenship/residency you will find yourself in hot waters when participating.
In case this is an offer which requires a bondholder to be active (vote/order to receive new local bonds against old Eurobonds) this bondholder might violate sanctions!

Take a look at Venezuela: Maduro tried a lot to avoid defaulting but was unable to get Dollars to creditors. Then sanctions hit and made it impossible for creditors of most Western nations to participate in a voluntary exchange of bonds.

With Eurobonds the custodians would implement the sanctions as and if required. One would need to read through the entire bond prospectus like I had to do whenever I bought any bond. These prospectuses can often run into 100's of pages depending on complexity of the bond. If the terms of the issuance allow a swap or convertibility of the bond then there is no issue other than with your home countries sanctions. However enforcing any sanctions is now made difficult especially if client deals directly with Russia due to reductions/suspensions in TIA's with Russia :confused:.
 
no issue other than with your home countries sanctions.
That's what I meant in my post. Good examples are EU sanctions against Russia because of annexation of Crimea in 2015. Prospectuses allowed a lot but EU citizens could not participate because of sanctions their home countries implemented and enforced on their own citizens.
However enforcing any sanctions is now made difficult especially if client deals directly with Russia due to reductions/suspensions in TIA's with Russia :confused:.
I can not imaging anybody being so naive/stupid to consider participating in anything so obviously breaching sanctions. Just a matter of time till such a person will find himself in court. That can be quite costly.
N.B.: Russia is now like a Swiss cheese when it comes to data leaks.
 
They just used JP Morgan in US to process the payment after US permitted it. The rich foreign bondholders look after their own interests and the public get played for fools. No different then US buying Iranian oil last year despite sanctions....lolease post a source.

Please post a source.

There has been no official statement from neither OFAC nor any other government agency yet.
The only information available are rumors, claiming that Russia used local foreign currency reserves, channeled them through a well-known branch of a bank in London eek¤%& while bondholders are yet to be waiting if any funds will ever arrive.

I anyway do not understand why they did all this. There will be no relationship with the West for the foreseeable future. So, why pay them. Next bondpayment is already due on 04-May.
Is it just to demonstrate that Western sanctions are useless?
 
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Please post a source.

They used Citigroup in London for latest payment and just before that JP Morgan NY.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/ru...dollars-to-avert-default-rLYNnUV7rweKEBuAW3Be
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...essed-russian-bond-payments-sent-to-citigroup


I anyway do not understand why they did all this. There will be no relationship with the West for the foreseeable future. So, why pay them. Next bondpayment is already due on 04-May.
Is it just to demonstrate that Western sanctions are useless?

That's a very good point that a lot of people misunderstand. They feel that if Russia is shunned by the west anyway why pay the interest on the bonds. Why not tell the west to go to hell right? Problem is you have to understand the terms of a Sovereign bond issuance and what a default would entail. This would be in the prospectus which I have not seen but can imagine would be very similar to a covered bond. Often enough if a sovereign guarantee of payment is given then failure to pay bond holders allows them the right to seize your assets held around the world or wherever they can get their hands on Russian state owned assets. That means anything from investments being seized, cash in correspondent accounts being seized, Russian flagged vessels being impounded etc to pay back bondholders...lol. It's not different to if you owe the bank money they will seize your income, assets or anything they can get their hands on to recover the money.
 
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They used Citigroup in London for latest payment and just before that JP Morgan NY.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/ru...dollars-to-avert-default-rLYNnUV7rweKEBuAW3Be
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...essed-russian-bond-payments-sent-to-citigroup




That's a very good point that a lot of people misunderstand. They feel that if Russia is shunned by the west anyway why pay the interest on the bonds. Why not tell the west to go to hell right? Problem is you have to understand the terms of a Sovereign bond issuance and what a default would entail. This would be in the prospectus which I have not seen but can imagine would be very similar to a covered bond. Often enough if a sovereign guarantee of payment is given then failure to pay bond holders allows them the right to seize your assets held around the world or wherever they can get their hands on Russian state owned assets. That means anything from investments being seized, cash in correspondent accounts being seized, Russian flagged vessels being impounded etc to pay back bondholders...lol. It's not different to if you owe the bank money they will seize your income, assets or anything they can get their hands on to recover the money.
That's true. Such seizure happened to an Argentine schoolvessel (ARA Libertad) while on a visit to Ghana. The infamous hedge fund of Mr. Singer started that show, even though without a long lasting affect.
Since then bond prospectuses have progressed, sp cifically due to the influence.of the IMF which dies not want individuals to have a say over sovereign nations.
So, as you say, we would have to study the prospectus about the exact terms. If such a prospectus is of newer date it is likely that seizures into government owned assets are not that easy anymore. Venezuela, for instance, was such an example with CITGO.
 
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Let's face it, bondholders will not make loans to third world countries without the assurance of payment through a pledge of state assets. Even China is notorious for loaning money to third world nations and having the sovereign borrowers pledge seaports and other critical state infrastructure as collateral for those loans.
Check the latest studies and recommendations of the IMF, read up about the recent history of specifically Argentine government defaults, then compare old and new Argentine prospectuses to get an idea about what private bondholders are willing to accept in today's low interest rate environment. Greed makes man blind and foolish!

Furthermore: What China does are government-to-government loans. This is a different legal basis.