The EU has started unfreezing Russian assets without OFAC permission

The EU has started unfreezing Russian assets without OFAC permission

Unfreezing of Russian assets has begun in Europe.

As reported by the Russian state agency «RIA Novosti», citing a financial source in Brussels, such actions are now permissible in EU depositories without the need to obtain permission from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

According to RBC, the Belgian depository Euroclear has already started the process of unblocking assets without an OFAC license. The press service of the National Settlement Depository confirmed that they received explanations from Euroclear regarding the procedure for carrying out such operations.

Gleb Boyko, a lawyer at NSP Law and Compliance, stated that there are known to be three successful cases of unblocking, carried out by different brokers. According to him, this mechanism was agreed upon with Euroclear approximately one and a half months ago and has become a new practice in the market: now, if American individuals or financial institutions are not involved in the process, a Belgian license is sufficient.