The Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region has ruled in favor of VTB Bank in its litigation against Euroclear. The decision allows the bank to recover 38.4 million dollars, tied to funds deposited by Euroclear in a custodial arrangement that included securities held on Euroclear’s books. The court docket showed a claim breakdown that featured a mix of currencies, including Australian dollars, Swiss francs, Chinese yuan, British pounds, euros, and U.S. dollars, underscoring the multi-currency nature of the dispute and the complexity of cross-border asset custody arrangements.
The case, filed earlier this year, centers on deposits tied to assets that Euroclear maintained in a financial institution’s custody, with the bank asserting entitlement to those funds after certain conditions related to asset control were triggered. The verdict confirms the bank’s assertion about its ownership and priority to recover amounts from the custodial account, highlighting the ongoing legal frictions around the management of Russian assets under international custody structures.
Euroclear has continued to accrue interest from assets frozen within international markets. The bank’s first-quarter results indicate rising interest income from these holdings as part of a broader earnings report that also shows the quarterly total revenue at a high level, reflecting the broader market’s ongoing activity in custody services and the management of blocked assets. The figures illustrate how depositories licensed to handle global securities have navigated the constraints tied to sanctioned assets and the revenue implications of interest on restricted holdings.
Asset data shows that holdings associated with the Central Bank of Russia are valued near several hundred billion euros in aggregate, with the Western regions reporting substantial blocks of assets restricted from movement. This context helps explain why institutions with custody responsibilities have faced intricate legal and regulatory environments when dealing with Russian financial instruments and central-bank reserves in the international system.
Earlier discussions centered on moving or reclaiming ownership of Russian securities that had been tied up in foreign custodians, including actions that explored channels through Kazakhstan and other jurisdictions. The evolving landscape reflects the global reach of custody networks and the challenges that arise when sanctions, sanctions-compliance requirements, and cross-border settlement rules intersect with asset ownership claims.