The European Single Resolution Board has opened liquidation proceedings for Sberbank Europe AG, the parent company of Sberbank Hungary. As a result of the serious liquidity and capital situation caused by the international sanctions for Russian banks, the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) has revoked the operating license of Sberbank Magyarország Zrt. with immediate effect and also ordered its winding up. Deposits are protected up to EUR 100,000 (HUF 37 million) per customer, which will be paid out by tNational Deposit Insurance Fund (OBA) within 10 working days to all eligible customers.
The MNB designated Financial Stability and Liquidator Non-profit Limited Liability Company (Pénzügyi Stabilitási és Felszámoló Nonprofit Kft., PSFN) as the liquidator of the company. However, she stressed that this has no impact on the other members of the Hungarian financial system. The liquidation of Sberbank Magyarország Zrt. is unique on the Hungarian market. Sberbank cannot provide liquidity to its European subsidiaries due to an order from the Central Bank of Russia.
In response to the invasion of Ukraine, the West has imposed unprecedented financial sanctions on Russia. These include measures against the Russian central bank, but also the exclusion of some Russian banks from the Swift international payment system. Now Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is withdrawing from the European market. Sberbank Europe AG, based in Vienna, is a 100% subsidiary of the majority state-owned Sberbank in Moscow.