LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) – HSBC HSBA.L> said it still expects the deal to proceed with the sale of its Russian business in the first half of 2023, the most important since it announced in July 2022. It has agreed to sell the unit to local lender Expobank.
HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, reported a loss of $300 million on expected business sales in its 2022 annual results.
HSBC said in July last year that the deal was pending approval from the Russian government and regulators, and Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said Russia would block the sale of Russian businesses to foreign banks.
The London-based lender reiterated on Tuesday that the deal is still awaiting regulatory approval, and did not provide any further information on the status of the process.
Many international corporations moved quickly to leave Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but banks have been among the slowest sectors to divest themselves of concerns about what Russian law will allow. Moscow calls its action in Ukraine a “special operation”.
Latest updates
See 2 more stories
Credit Suisse was barred from disposing of shares in its Russian unit last July after a Moscow court ordered it to take 10 million euros ($10.7 million) from the Swiss bank.
HSBC’s corporate banking business in Russia provides a range of credit and investment banking services to domestic and international clients.
It employed about 200 people on the eve of the Russian invasion, HSBC’s finance chief Ewen Stevenson said at the time.
($1 = 0.9375 EUR)
Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.