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Russia Dodges Default as Some Investors Receive Dollar Funds

RUSSIA
  • Russia’s closely watched dollar payments on two bonds are trickling through to investors after the country dipped into its local holdings of the U.S. currency and sidestepped its first foreign default in a century.
  • Three investors who asked not to be identified said their custodian banks had received payments. At least one major international clearinghouse has received and processed payments for the eurobonds due in 2022 and 2042, according to people familiar with the transaction who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
  • U.S. sanctions currently include a broad exemption for sovereign bond payments. That runs out on May 25, and the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control hasn’t said if it will be extended. If it isn’t, that raises a major hurdle for payments due just days later for interest owed on sovereign notes.
MNI London Bureau | +44 020-3983-7894 | murray.nichol@marketnews.com
MNI London Bureau | +44 020-3983-7894 | murray.nichol@marketnews.com

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