The sale of HSBC’s Russian business to Expobank may have hit a road bump with the central bank governor stating that no request for approval for the deal was received.
Bank of Russia governor Elvira Nabiullina said that no request was received from HSBC and Expobank to approve a possible deal, according to a «Reuters» report citing a media briefing last week. This follows the British lender’s recent statement to reportedly exit 100 percent of its Russian business via a sale to the Moscow-based lender.
There are further potential complications for the deal as Russia’s deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev recently said that new rules would be introduced to block the sales of foreign banks’ businesses in the country. HSBC’s reportedly signed the deal shortly before the announcement though it is unclear if the sale has been impacted.
According to chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson, the bank housed around 200 people, as of the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with around $15 million of revenue compared to total group revenue of $50 billion.
