Maxima Legal won a court case against Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V. in the interests of a Russian investor

Maxima Legal obtained a court decision to recover unpaid coupon income and unpaid redemption amounts of securities blocked on NSD’s account from Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V. in favour of a Russian citizen.

The practice in disputes with the European depositories Euroclear and Clearstream is generally similar in favour of Russian investors, but enforcement of the judgment is still difficult due to the current ban on foreclosure of assets held in “C” type and “I” type accounts, including those opened in the name of Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V. However, even before the ban is lifted, it is possible to enforce the judgment in one of the friendly jurisdictions or at the expense of Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V.’s assets, which are not subject to the ban, to which the injunction does not apply.

It should be noted that an appeal to a Russian commercial court may be considered as a method of defence in addition to filing an application to unblock assets frozen in European depositories. We recommend resorting to this method in cases where a licence for unblocking has been refused or there are no chances of obtaining it.