Due to the imposition of sanctions against NSD not only by the European Union but also by several other foreign jurisdictions, including the US and the UK, upstream foreign depositories have notified NSD of the need to additionally submit an asset unlocking permit issued by the competent authority of the jurisdiction with which the assets to be released are connected, even if a permit for dealing with the relevant assets has already been issued by the competent authority of Belgium/Luxembourg.
Depositors and their clients are advised to independently assess, including with the involvement of appropriate advisors, all potential risks associated with transferring securities and/or funds when submitting applications to NSD without the aforementioned permits from competent foreign authorities.
Clients must also independently determine in each specific case whether a General Permit applies or an Individual Permit must be obtained. The final decision on the applicability of the provided asset unlocking permit(s) rests with the Euroclear / Clearstream officer.
original or copy of the Individual Permit;
translation of the Individual Permit with a notarized signature of the translator;
application for the transfer of funds / securities in accordance with the Individual Permit (hereinafter – application for asset transfer), prepared in the form according to Appendices 1 and 2.
In applications prepared in the form according to Appendices 1 and 2, it is necessary to specify:
a list of securities for which the application is submitted (all ISIN codes with identical transfer details must be listed in a single application);
a list of registration numbers of the corresponding instructions for debiting securities from storage and/or record-keeping (operation code — 36);
a list of corporate actions for income distribution, the sums of which make up the amount of funds to be released under the Individual Permit.
Meanwhile, the income amount for securities subject to US taxation must be specified separately, indicating the net income amount and the tax amount specified in the Individual Permit to be remitted to the US Internal Revenue Service.
original or copy of the Individual Permit;
translation of the Individual Permit with a notarized signature of the translator;
application for the transfer of funds / securities of another person who is a client of an NSD depositor, in accordance with the Individual Permit (hereinafter – application for asset transfer), prepared in the form according to Appendices 3 and 4.
In applications prepared in the form according to Appendices 3 and 4, it is necessary to specify:
a list of securities for which the application is submitted (all ISIN codes with identical transfer details must be listed in a single application);
a list of registration numbers of the corresponding instructions for debiting securities from storage and/or record-keeping (operation code — 36);
a list of corporate actions for income distribution, the sums of which make up the amount of funds to be released under the Individual Permit.
Meanwhile, the income amount for securities subject to US taxation must be specified separately, indicating the net income amount and the tax amount specified in the Individual Permit to be remitted to the US Internal Revenue Service.
If, from the moment of suspension of operations on the NSD account at a foreign depository until the date of obtaining the Individual Permit, the depositor's client transferred assets (or part of assets) specified in the Individual Permit between their depot accounts opened under different nominee depositors, then the applications for asset transfer are submitted by those depositors whose depot accounts currently record the specified assets (obligations).
NSD hereby informs the following.
On July 18, 2025, the Council of the European Union (hereinafter – the Council (EU)) approved the 18th package of sanctions against Russia (Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1494) dated July 18, 2025.
In accordance with paragraph 15 of Article 1 of Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1494, amendments were made to Article 5h of Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, introducing a prohibition on conducting any transactions (Transaction ban) with persons listed in Annex XIV to Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014.
According to Article 5h of Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 (as amended by Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1494), economic operators of EU member states are prohibited from entering into transactions with listed companies, as well as with persons in whom listed companies own 50% or more of shares.
The list of persons falling under Article 5h was expanded within the framework of the 19th package of European Union sanctions against Russia.
We ask you to take this information into account when applying to the relevant competent authority for an asset unlocking permit, as well as when implementing already issued permits. A person who has obtained a permit may require an additional permit for a transaction with a person listed in the list of persons falling under Article 5h of Regulation (EU) No 833/2014.
We recommend that you consider the possibility and expediency of sending additional confirmations to Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V. (hereinafter – Euroclear), and in case of a positive decision, submit them in the form of the letter (Appendix 24) with attachments (Appendix 21 – for securities transfer, Appendix 20 – for funds transfer).
The submission of additional confirmations to Euroclear is necessitated by messages received by NSD from Euroclear stating that the instruction sent to Euroclear must contain information on assets connected to the UK jurisdiction (UK-nexus) (to the extent applicable), and/or must contain confirmation of the absence of a US-person in the securities custody chain (if applicable). Please also note that this confirmation applies exclusively to transfers within Euroclear's ledgers.
Please note that providing this information does not guarantee the execution of the Euroclear instruction. If it becomes necessary to replace bank account details/depot account details, previously submitted Applications will need to be cancelled and new ones submitted.
Please be advised that in case of replacing details for executing transfers, you/your clients may require additional permits from the European regulator.
If you need to amend the previously submitted application for asset transfer, you must submit to NSD:
an application for withdrawal of the previously submitted application for asset transfer, prepared in the form according to Appendices 5-8;
a new application for asset transfer, prepared in the form according to Appendices 1-4.
If the application is submitted for the transfer of assets that represent payments on securities of foreign issuers, for which NSD's obligation to transfer arose from 01.02.2022 to 09.09.2023 and were not executed and/or not terminated by 09.09.2023, the depositor must also submit a written refusal to exercise the right to receive payments in rubles in accordance with paragraph 12 of Presidential Decree No. 665 of the Russian Federation dated 09.09.2023 “On the Temporary Procedure for Fulfillment to Residents and Foreign Creditors of State Debt Obligations of the Russian Federation Denominated in State Securities with Nominal Value Stated in Foreign Currency, and Other Obligations on Foreign Securities” (hereinafter – Refusal and Decree No. 665, respectively). The Refusal, accounting for all corrections in accordance with NSD's remarks, will be accepted no later than 5 (five) business days prior to the currency substitution date.
The Refusal is provided in the form of Appendix 10 with attachments of the documents specified in the Refusal (if applicable). The Refusal must be signed by the depositor, and if the depositor is not the owner of the foreign issuer's securities, the Refusal must be signed by the depositor, the owner, and each of the depositories in the chain of record-keeping of rights to such securities.
The depositor may submit an application for withdrawal of the previously submitted application for refusal by the Depositor of NSD to receive payments on foreign securities in rubles (hereinafter – Withdrawal of Refusal), prepared in the form provided below, regarding the payments on securities of foreign issuers specified in the Refusal, subject to the following conditions:
do not relate to NSD's obligations belonging to the execution queue in accordance with paragraph 12 of Decree No. 665, for which execution has been completed and execution of the next queue of obligations has begun;
do not relate to NSD's obligations belonging to the execution queue in accordance with paragraph 12 of Decree No. 665, for which the execution procedure has begun and is not completed, but the execution sequence for such obligations regarding the corporate action(s) specified earlier in the Refusal has already passed, and execution of obligations for other corporate actions within this execution queue has begun;
for which, from the date of submission of the Withdrawal of Refusal until the currency substitution date in accordance with paragraph 12 of Decree No. 665, no less than 3 (three) business days remain, in case NSD did not send an instruction to the foreign depository to transfer funds for the specified payments, or, in case NSD submitted an instruction to transfer funds, a reporting document from the foreign depository confirming the cancellation of the corresponding instruction to transfer funds to the NSD account has been received;
for which, from the date of submission of the Withdrawal of Refusal until the currency substitution date in accordance with paragraph 12 of Decree No. 665, no less than 14 (fourteen) days remain, in case NSD sent an instruction to the foreign depository to transfer funds for the specified payments, and at the same time, no reporting document from the foreign depository confirming the cancellation of the corresponding instruction to transfer funds to the NSD account has been received.
In this case, you must submit to NSD:
an application for withdrawal of the previously submitted application for refusal by the Depositor of NSD to receive payments on foreign securities in rubles, prepared in the form according to Appendix 11;
a withdrawal of the previously submitted application for asset transfer, prepared in the form according to Appendices 5, 7 (if the depositor previously submitted an application for transfer of funds or an application for transfer of funds of another person who is a client of the NSD depositor).
If the application and accompanying documents are submitted correctly, NSD will send the corresponding instructions for asset transfer to the foreign depository and will maintain communication with you through your organization's personal manager.
If additional questions arise from Foreign upstream depositories, the manager will forward the request text. If it is necessary to provide a response, the Depositor submits information in English along with the cover form (Appendix 24) as an unstructured document via the EDO channel. The subject of the cover letter must necessarily include all required details:
1) PID ______ TID ______
2) Internal application number in the NSD system:_____
Please note that the cover letter must be separated by substance: Funds / Securities.
The execution timelines for instructions are not regulated by upstream depositories; however, we will make every effort to implement the Individual Permit as soon as possible.