The head of the European Central Bank’s supervisory board, Andrea Enrea, said on Tuesday that the bank wants eurozone banks to expedite their exit from Russia, given increased reputational, legal and financial risks.
Enria repeated those comments for months and expressed hope that European financial institutions would sever ties with their Russian assets, but it took on new meaning after Saturday’s 24-hour mutiny by the private military group Wagner, which highlighted Russia’s political fragility.
“The ECB Supervisory Board called on these banks to accelerate their reduction and exit strategies by adopting clear roadmaps and reporting regularly to their governing bodies and the ECB Banking Supervisory Board on the implementation of these plans,” Enria said in a letter to MEPs. , according to Reuters.
Reuters reported last month that Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International, one of the eurozone banks most closely linked to Russia, stepped up its move to hand over its Russian arm to shareholders amid growing pressure to do so.
The bank’s chief executive, Johan Strobl, said he was working “at full speed” on the solution.
