The Swiss financial market supervisory authority (Finma) has imposed drastic restrictions on Sberbank (Switzerland) AG. The subsidiary of the Russian Sberbank is not allowed to make any payments or transactions that are not necessary for the operative business as a bank without the approval of Finma, the authority announced on Saturday night. Sberbank (Switzerland) AG is at risk of liquidity problems as a result of the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the worsening international sanctions environment. To protect creditors, Finma has ordered that the due date of the bank’s obligations from customer deposits be postponed to May 2, 2022. The bank has decided not to do any new business for the time being and is in the process of largely restructuring and reducing its business activities, the statement said.
FINMA appoints an investigator who monitors in particular the financial stability of the bank, ensuring that creditors are treated equally and that the bank is appropriately organized on site. Sberbank (Switzerland) AG specializes in financing in the area of commodities trading and looks after around seventy business customers, but has no private customers.
In a statement, the bank confirmed the regulator’s actions and said: “Sberbank (Switzerland) AG has strong liquidity, adequate capitalization and a solid balance sheet position.” At the end of 2021, the bank’s assets would have amounted to three billion francs and capital to over 500 million francs.