European regulators in Belgium and Luxembourg have extended the deadline for submitting documents to unlock assets held by residents not under sanctions until the end of July. This update was shared by a representative of the Central Bank of Russia, with confirmation from Interfax. The situation centers on frozen securities held in European depositories Euroclear and Clearstream. The European Union introduced restrictive measures against the National Settlement Depository NSD in June 2022, by that time the Russian institution was already under sanctions imposed by international custodians Euroclear and Clearstream since February 2022. These doble restrictions effectively froze a portion of Russian investors’ securities.
The Russian central bank official noted that the initial document filing license was issued for a brief period and expired on January 7. In the following weeks, reports circulated through the Telegram channel Sanctions Law, citing unnamed sources, that the Belgian Ministry of Finance had begun replying to private Russian investors with refusals to authorize the unlocking of assets stored in the Euroclear European warehouse. Earlier coverage from RBC Online indicated that Russian authorities had identified cases of unauthorized deletions of foreign securities from Russian depositories abroad, underscoring ongoing enforcement concerns. The broader context shows how sanctions and related asset controls create a complex landscape for cross-border security holdings, custody arrangements, and investor access to non-sanctioned instruments. The delays in processing may reflect administrative backlogs, ongoing verification procedures, and the evolving regulatory interpretation across EU jurisdictions. Market participants in Canada and the United States observing these developments may see impacts on liquidity for certain Russian securities and on the ability of private investors to retrieve assets held in European depositories. Analysts emphasize that the situation remains fluid as compliance regimes and sanction rules continue to shift, influencing custody policy at major settlement facilities and the flow of cross-border securities that involve European gateways and Russian counterparts. These dynamics highlight the importance of clear documentation, timely regulatory updates, and careful risk management for investors with exposure to sanctioned or partially restricted instruments. In summary, authorities are extending timelines to facilitate compliance while continuing to scrutinize asset unlocking requests and maintaining strict adherence to sanctions regimes. The ongoing dialogue among regulators, financial institutions, and investors suggests that the path to unlocking assets will depend on evolving interpretations of sanctions, procedural transparency, and the effectiveness of information-sharing channels between EU member states and centralized authorities. As such, market participants should monitor official statements from national regulators and international bodies, and consider seeking professional guidance when navigating exposure to assets held in Euroclear, Clearstream, and similar European custodial facilities, especially where sanction-related restrictions intersect with non-sanctioned holdings.