By the end of 2022, Swiss bank Julius Baer has reclassified more than 2 billion francs of assets under management to assets under custody, primarily due to asset freezes and restrictions in client relationships as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Julius Baer has applied all relevant national and international sanctions and has not onboarded new clients with Russian residence, the firm said in a statement on Thursday
The bank has credit exposure to a single-digit number of clients subject to these sanctions. The exposure is in the form of mortgage loans at conservative lending values against residential properties in prime locations in Western Europe, as well as a marginal Lombard credit exposure fully covered by pledged liquid assets as collateral.
Subsidiary in Moscow Closed
To date, Julius Baer has not recorded any credit losses directly related to the Russia/Ukraine conflict. The bank's market risk exposure to Russia is insignificant and tightly managed while its advisory subsidiary in Moscow has been closed.
As of end-2022, 2.2 billion francs ($2.4 billion) of assets under management (AUM) had been reclassified to assets under custody primarily due to asset freezes and restrictions in client relationships as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Approximately 0.7 percent of Julius Baer’s AUM at the end of the year were related to Russian persons neither entitled to residency in the European Economic Area nor in Switzerland. According to sanctions imposed by the European Union and Switzerland, the acceptance of deposits in excess of 100,000 euros ($110,000) from such clients is prohibited.
