Sberinvest Middle East Limited

History

2022: Company closure in UAE

At the end of December 2022, Sberbank announced the upcoming closure of its office in the UAE. We are talking about the company Sberinvest Middle East Limited, registered in Abu Dhabi.

"Unfortunately, due to the sanctions, we are faced with serious restrictions on the work of our office in Abu Dhabi and are forced to close it in the first quarter of 2023," said Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank.

"Sberbank" closes the unit in the UAE due to "serious restrictions"

According to Frank Media, citing data from the UAE public register, Sberbank Middle East Limited has permission to invest in consulting and organize transactions and issuing loans. At the same time, the company did not have access to work with retail customers, and was also limited "in the right to control customer assets."

The fact that Sberbank closes Sberbank Middle East Limited was told in mid-December 2022 by two counterparties of the credit institution to Frank Media. SWIFT It is almost impossible for a sub-sanctioned bank to work in the region without access to the system, one of the interlocutors argued. In his opinion, large players who fall under sanctions will be able to work there either through medium and small, banks RUSSIAN FEDERATION or through local intermediaries.

Sber came under blocking US sanctions in April 2022. And in June, the EU disconnected the bank from the SWIFT international interbank information exchange system.^[1]

2020: Building a company

Sber opened an office in Abu Dhabi in 2020, having received permission from the regulators of Russia and the UAE for investment consulting, organizing transactions and issuing loans, but did not have access to retail customers. The company's executives then said that the structure would work with exporters and offer investment products that comply with the principles of Islamic banking.

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