Emirates NBD

Emirates NBD is a leading banking group in the United Arab Emirates and one of the largest banks in the Middle East. It appeared in 2007 as a result of the merger of two major UAE banks - Emirates Bank International (the second largest in the UAE) and National Bank of Dubai (the fourth in the UAE). ENBD offers a wide range of products and services including retail banking, corporate banking and asset management.

The bank emerged from the merger of Emirates Bank International (EBI) and National Bank of Dubai (NBD) and became the centerpiece of the financially region's -bank sector, combining the second and fourth largest. banks UAE

As of January 2021, its network includes more than 220 branches and more than 900 ATMs across the country and beyond.

The bank's activities cover the territory of the Middle East, Africa, Hindustan, Europe, Central Asia, as well as Southeast Asia^[1].

2023: Blocking the accounts of Russian citizens

The second largest bank Dubai - Emirates NBD (ENBD) - in April 2023 began to block the investment accounts of its Russian clients. They reported that if the account holders are not residents of the European Economic Area, Switzerland or, USA income from their assets will be transferred to a separate account not controlled by customers.

In other words - coupons, dividends and income from the sale of securities will be transferred to a segregated account, from where Russian customers will not be able to transfer them to their ENBD account.

This ENBD move is in line with the EU directive. Even those citizens of Russia who are residents of the UAE will not be exempted from this.

At this time, ENBD is widely represented in Russia, many Russian clients use the bank's investment accounts.

ENBD management went to these measures as a result of a direct requirement by the United States to comply with the sanctions regime. The UAE authorities are forced to comply with this regime, albeit to a limited extent. The bank's decision is formally related to the introduction of blocking sanctions against some Russian banks, brokers and the National Settlement Depository (NSD).

ENBD complies with the requirements of the depositories ([Clearstream]] and Euroclear. Previously, such requirements were mandatory only for European and Swiss banks.

After the start of SVO in Ukraine, Russian investors massively withdrew assets held in European depositories. Euroclear even created a special section for Russian customers.

The only way to regain control of their assets was to transfer the portfolio from Europe to a "friendly" jurisdiction. Customers often chose ENBD in the UAE for this purpose.

Another fifth package of sanctions indicated that Russian citizens and residents without citizenship or a residence permit in the EU are limited to €100,000 in deposits and accounts with European banks. The seventh package of sanctions extended the measure to European accounts of foreign companies controlled by Russians. On March 30, the management unit of the Russian broker BCS Cyprus warned customers that Russian accounts with Euroclear and Clearstream would be blocked if their balance exceeded €100,000, and the funds would be blocked in full.

The restrictions apply to all foreign brokers with Russian accounts with Euroclear and Clearstream. If the Russian does not have citizenship or a residence permit in the EU, the assets stored in Euroclear and Clearstream become inaccessible. These include Eurobonds and shares in European companies.

There are two options:

• sell European assets and withdraw money outside the US-controlled financial system;

• obtain citizenship or residence permit of one of the EU countries.

Emirates NBD's decision to block the investment accounts of its Russian clients is part of the strategy of total control of the financial system, which the United States implements through the FATCA mechanism and pressure on the depositories of Euroclear and Clearstream.

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