Europe’s top financial supervisor said it was putting pressure on eurozone banks to cut their Russian exposures even as the window to sell these assets was narrowing after the Kremlin turned “more hostile” to such moves.
Andrea Enria, chair of supervision at the European Central Bank, said “many banks have taken action” to reduce their exposure to Russia since its troops invaded Ukraine almost a year ago, but he added that it would welcome “any opportunity for banks to exit”.
Many of the 45 western banks with subsidiaries in Russia have sought to leave the country, but only a handful have done so, often at a steep cost. The two left with the largest exposures are both under ECB supervision: Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International and Italy’s UniCredit.