The Central Bank of Russia Sets Plans for Frozen Assets and Sanctions Compliance
The Central Bank of Russia has ordered banks to draft individual strategies for handling assets blocked under Western sanctions. A report cited by Kommersant provides the initial details on this move.
By August 22, the regulator requested information covering both the parent institutions and their major subsidiaries. Yet several top Russian banks are not yet prepared to offer full solutions for managing frozen assets. In several cases, banks from the top ten by size disclosed plans only for the assets explicitly affected by sanctions.
People acquainted with the publication say the central bank is trying to gauge the scale of blocked assets. At the same time, representatives of the currency regulator acknowledge uncertainty about how to resolve the issue. The current objective appears to be gathering practical ideas that could underpin a unified approach to the problem across the sector.
Subsidiaries of Russian banks could hold funds in brokerage accounts totaling up to 300 million euros, with additional billions of euros tied up in corporate client accounts. According to the report, there have not been cases where full refunds have had a neutral impact on the parent bank’s financial results, though this point remains contested among observers.
On August 24, the Central Bank indicated that banks must return funds sent to fraudsters within one month. Vadim Uvarov, head of the regulator’s information security department, noted that if transfers were sent abroad, the repayment window could extend to 60 days. In such cases, banks are expected to reimburse the entire transfer amount in full.
These developments come at a time when the global financial system continues to adjust to Western sanctions and the evolving landscape of asset freezes. For readers in Canada and the United States, the situation offers a clear example of how central banks coordinate with national financial institutions to manage frozen or illicitly transferred funds, and how timelines for remediation can impact both liquidity and risk controls across banking groups. The discussions highlight the ongoing challenge of balancing regulatory compliance with the operational realities of large, interconnected bank networks, especially when subsidiaries operate across multiple jurisdictions and currencies.
Experts emphasize that the success of any national strategy to handle frozen assets depends on transparent governance, cross-border cooperation, and the ability of banks to classify assets quickly while maintaining customer confidence. The plan to collect input from major banks suggests that the central bank seeks a practical framework that can be scaled across institutions, protecting assets where appropriate while preserving financial stability. Observers note that the next few weeks will be critical as banks update their internal inventories, adjust risk controls, and prepare for potential policy clarifications from regulators in Moscow and beyond. Market participants will be watching closely to see how these measures influence liquidity, collateral availability, and the broader risk posture of large financial groups with international footprints.