Many multinational corporations moved quickly to exit Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but banks have been among the slower sectors to disentangle themselves amid concerns about what Russian law will permit. Moscow calls its action in Ukraine “a special operation”.
Credit Suisse last July was banned from disposing of shares in its Russian unit by a Moscow court which also ordered the seizure of 10 million euros from the Swiss bank. HSBC’s operations in Russia consisted of a corporate banking business which offered a range of lending and investment banking services to domestic and multinational customers.
It employed around 200 people on the eve of Russia’s invasion, HSBC Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson said at the time.Subscribe to our daily newsletter