Russian invasion of Ukraine

Sanctions against Russia apply to some shares and bonds. For other investment products, trading has been affected or even halted by uncertainty about further sanctions. In addition, ABN AMRO also uses an exclusion list to prevent ABN AMRO from playing a role in financing  the governments of Russia and Belarus.

• Persons and entities in and around the Russian Government
• Trade with persons and entities in the Donbas region (Luhansk and Dontesk)
• Access of Russian financial institutions to the capital market
• The reserves of the Russian central bank
• Goods and technologies used in the energy sector, aviation and in support of the Russian military apparatus

• Russia and Belarus government bonds
• Russian companies where engagement is not (or no longer) possible. These companies indicate that they no longer want to talk to us or to external asset managers
• Companies with a Russian state interest

In the case of sanctions, it is forbidden to do any transactions. In the exclusion list, ABN AMRO excludes certain investments on the basis of our ESG (environmental, social, governance) standards. In asset management and investment advice, the excluded investment products are not (or no longer) included in the investment decisions. Existing clients are allowed to keep positions in Self Investing Basic and Self Investing Plus.

There are specific sanctions on stocks and bonds of certain Russian parties. This has been the case since the annexation of Crimea and these sanctions have recently been extended. As of 2 March, we have decided to stop Russian-related stock trading. That's because brokers and custodians have completely stopped trading with Russia and our network infrastructure is therefore affected.

Paying coupons and repaying loans has become more difficult. The markets are pricing in the heightened risk that Russia will no longer be able to pay its obligations. This means Russian bonds are low in price and high in yield. Most rating agencies have greatly downgraded the creditworthiness of Russia to non-investment grade (equivalent to junk bond). As a result, Russia is no longer eligible for most indexes and will drop out at the end of the month. A country that can no longer pay its debts and coupons is a defaulter and will therefore have to pay a higher fee (coupon) in the future for trading with others. We expect a similar effect for Belarus government bonds.

Some investment funds in our product range invest in Russian stocks. Because it is not possible to trade in Russian shares, it is also not possible to trade in these investment funds. The funds can no longer buy or sell these shares and can no longer issue a price.

Because many Russian investment products have been placed on the sanctions list, trading in those investment products is no longer possible. Therefore, the main market for these ETFs is now closed. Under limited circumstances trading houses still issue bid and ask prices for ETFs with Russian stocks or bonds. Because there is no or a limited market for the underlying shares or bonds, it can occur that there is a large difference between the issued bid and ask prices. Please pay attention to this development if you would like to place such an order.

We see that the index providers are now taking Russia out of the benchmark. Russian shares or bonds in, for example, Eastern Europe investment funds are valued at zero. Should there ever be trading in Russian investment products again, a value greater than zero can arise. This value benefits the investors who then own the participations in such an Eastern Europe fund.

• Russian shares in ABN AMRO Profielfonds 2 to 6, from the mandates Sands Emerging Markets Equities and M&G Emerging Markets Equities.
• Russian and Ukrainian bonds in ABN AMRO Profielfonds 1 to 5, from the mandates Barings Emerging Markets Bonds and Barings Global High Yield Bonds.