In Moscow, amid ongoing sanctions, vast sums are gathering in accounts that are not accessible to foreign owners. Bloomberg reports that these funds are not part of ordinary transactions or markets open to outside investors.
The agency describes the affected money as consisting of stock dividends, bond interest payments, and other assets that foreign participants had not received or claimed since February 24 last year.
Officials stress that legally these funds belong to large investment entities, including JPMorgan Asset Management and Schroders Plc, yet private conversations among investors hint that the money may be treated as non-refundable by many holders.
GAM Investment Management stated that foreigners should abandon any hopes of reclaiming the assets now tied up. Nevertheless, a number of investors continue to pursue legal avenues to recover their funds.
Previously, Fabian Mayenfisch, spokesperson for the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), indicated that Swiss banks could not use frozen Russian assets for their own purposes. Switzerland had earlier confirmed there was no legal basis for transferring Russia’s frozen assets to Ukraine. A working group led by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice concluded along the same lines, reinforcing that premise for policy and practice in asset handling.