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Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
JPMorgan wins UK court order to block VTB's $156 million Russian lawsuits
LONDON: JPMorgan Chase on Thursday won its bid to block Russia's VTB Bank suing it in Russia over nearly $156 million, in the latest case brought at London's High Court to try and stop Russian litigation. The U.S. lender took legal action in London last year after VTB sued it in Russia, seeking $155.8 million after VTB was hit by Western sanctions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which prompted JPMorgan to freeze VTB funds in various accounts. JPMorgan argued that VTB's Russian lawsuits were in breach of their previous agreement to settle any disputes through arbitration and applied for an anti-suit injunction in London, to prevent VTB pursuing its case in Russia. Judge David Foxton ruled in JPMorgan's favour on Thursday, saying in a written ruling that VTB's pursuit of its lawsuits in Russia was 'vexatious and oppressive'. JPMorgan says interest income could rise this year even as uncertainty persists JPMorgan declined to comment. VTB Bank had no immediate comment. The dispute in London is just one strand of JPMorgan and VTB's legal battle, which has also prompted litigation in New York. JPMorgan is the latest financial institution to turn to courts in the West to try and stop litigation brought in Russia. In February, UniCredit won a bid to overturn an anti-suit injunction the Italian bank had obtained against a subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom, citing a potential 250 million euro fine it faced in Russia.
Reuters
7 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
JPMorgan wins UK court order to block VTB's $156 million Russian lawsuits
LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab on Thursday won its bid to block Russia's VTB Bank suing it in Russia over nearly $156 million, in the latest case brought at London's High Court to try and stop Russian litigation. The U.S. lender took legal action in London last year after VTB sued it in Russia, seeking $155.8 million after VTB was hit by Western sanctions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which prompted JPMorgan to freeze VTB funds in various accounts. JPMorgan argued that VTB's Russian lawsuits were in breach of their previous agreement to settle any disputes through arbitration and applied for an anti-suit injunction in London, to prevent VTB pursuing its case in Russia. Judge David Foxton ruled in JPMorgan's favour on Thursday, saying in a written ruling that VTB's pursuit of its lawsuits in Russia was "vexatious and oppressive". JPMorgan declined to comment. VTB Bank had no immediate comment. The dispute in London is just one strand of JPMorgan and VTB's legal battle, which has also prompted litigation in New York. JPMorgan is the latest financial institution to turn to courts in the West to try and stop litigation brought in Russia. In February, UniCredit ( opens new tab won a bid to overturn an anti-suit injunction the Italian bank had obtained against a subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom ( opens new tab, citing a potential 250 million euro fine it faced in Russia.
Reuters
27-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Russia's Sberbank reports record 2024 profit of $18.1 billion
MOSCOW, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Russia's largest lender Sberbank ( opens new tab reported on Thursday a record annual profit of 1.58 trillion roubles ($18.1 billion) after corporate and retail lending coped well with steadily increasing interest rates to 21%. The central bank's high key rate has boosted banks' net interest margins, but is so high now that lending growth is starting to slow as companies cut back on investment and individuals prefer to hold funds on deposit. Profit for 2024 rose 4.8% from the previous year, the bank said. "The corporate loan portfolio grew by 19% year on year to over 27.7 billion roubles," CEO German Gref said in a statement. "The retail portfolio grew more moderately under pressure from high rates and stricter regulation and grew 12.7% for the year, amounting to 18.1 trillion roubles." Net interest income for 2024 reached 3 trillion roubles, up 17% year on year. Return on equity (ROE) dropped by 1.3 percentage points to 24% for 2024 as a whole. In 2025, the bank sees ROE at above 22%. Sberbank dominates Russia's banking sector with almost 110 million retail clients and more than 3 million corporate clients. The sector's profits hit a record 4 trillion roubles last year, though the central bank has warned that profits will slip to 3-3.5 trillion roubles in 2025 as credit risks grow and margins are squeezed. No. 2 lender VTB Bank ( opens new tab this week reported record annual profit as well, but said it would not recommend a dividend as high rates and new regulation dampen this year's earnings outlook. Gref said that global volatility meant he could not guarantee that state-owned Sberbank would pay dividends for the next three years, but said the bank would distribute 50% of net profit to shareholders as planned for 2024, offering a huge boost to Russia's budget revenue. Sberbank casts itself as a technology company and has made hefty investments in areas like artificial intelligence (AI), as Russia seeks technological sovereignty in the face of sweeping Western sanctions over its actions in Ukraine. Gref said 2024 marked an important milestone for Sberbank as it integrated AI into more of the bank's systems and said the bank was developing in technology areas faster than it could have imagined. ($1 = 87.5000 roubles)
Reuters
25-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Russia's VTB Bank reports record profits for 2024, recommends no dividend
MOSCOW, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Russia's second-largest lender VTB Bank ( opens new tab made record profits of 551.4 billion roubles ($6.3 billion) in 2024, its chief financial officer said, but will not recommend a dividend as high interest rates and new regulation dampened this year's earnings outlook. The state-owned lender has now reported successive years of record annual profits, rebounding from a sanctions-induced loss of 667.5 billion roubles in 2022 when it was cut off from the SWIFT global financial messaging system after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine three years ago. High interest rates boosted banks' net interest margins, but with the Russian central bank's key rate now at 21%, lending growth is starting to slow as companies cut back on investment and people prefer to hold funds on deposit. Despite the 27.6% year-on-year surge in net profit, VTB's management is recommending that no dividends be disbursed from the 2024 results, Chief Financial Officer Dmitry Pyanov told reporters in comments cleared for publication on Tuesday. "The shareholder takes the dividends decision, but we, as management, will recommend against paying dividends on 2024 results due to the likely unprecedented number of simultaneously emerging negative factors affecting our ability to increase capital adequacy," Pyanov said. Pyanov named the high key rate, harsher tax policy and tighter regulation, including a surcharge for banks when issuing new loans to large firms with a high debt burden, among those negative factors. As a result, profits this year are set to fall to around 430 billion roubles, Pyanov said, before bouncing back to around 650 billion roubles the year after. Conflict resolution regarding Ukraine is not included in the bank's base case forecast, he added. U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking a swift deal to end the conflict in Ukraine, fuelling speculation that sanctions imposed against Russia could be eased. Pyanov expects the bank's overall loan portfolio growth to slow to 5% to 6% this year, largely due to more profitable corporate loans. "This will be a year of credit manoeuvre for us," Pyanov said. "We will purposefully reduce loans to individuals." ($1 = 87.7455 roubles) Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here.
