The European branch of VTB, one of Russia's largest banks and forex dealers, announced its name change as the parent company revoked its license for the entity to continue operating under the shared brand.。

European VTB name change in liquidation

VTB Bank (Europe) SA is headquartered in Frankfurt and handles VTB's business in the Old World。As a result of sanctions imposed after Russia attacked Ukraine, the entity has been made independent by regulators and entered bankruptcy proceedings from 2022.。

Frank Hellwig, chief executive of the European company, told Reuters the company's name would be changed to OWH SE.。Before the attack on Ukraine, the Russian bank was popular with German consumers and even sponsored the Frankfurt Lions hockey team.。

Customers started taking deposits on a massive scale after aggression in neighbouring countries, prompting regulators to intervene。18 months ago, regulators took control of the bank's operations while cutting the agency's ties to Russian money inflows through sanctions.。

On paper, Russian VTB still owns the company in Europe。The head of the European branch reportedly contacted the head office in the hope of obtaining permission to continue operations under the unchanged name.。However, Russia is said to have refused。In fact, VTB Bank plans to exit Europe as early as March 2022。

Unlawful seizure of control？

Russian bank VTB says it cannot exercise shareholder rights due to "illegal establishment of control" over its European subsidiary in April 2022。As a result, the Head Office Representative believes that the requirements for further use of the brand and logo by VTB's European subsidiary cannot be met。

The bank told Reuters: "Third party financial organisations are not entitled to use the name and reputation of VTB Bank and we are not responsible for its activities.。"

VTB Capital Forex still in operation

VTB Bank also owns subsidiary VTB Capital Forex, one of four licensed forex brokers in Russia.。At the beginning of the aggression against Ukraine, the company reported that it had suspended operations due to "anti-Russian sanctions."。

At the same time, the company advises its clients to avoid trading in dollars and euros to "minimize risk in the current situation."。

A few weeks later, however, VTB Capital Forex resumed business activity, unlocking trading in the Russian ruble (RUB) currency pair and resuming the ability to open new accounts.。The number of trading currency pairs currently offered by the broker is still limited。Currently, customers can trade 26 currency pairs with a maximum leverage of 40: 1。The difference is that these currency pairs include not only the Russian ruble, but also most of the popular major currencies and cross-currencies.。

Since 2022, the rules have been significantly relaxed.。A year ago, retailers simply couldn't trade currency, with a ceiling of $10,000 for withdrawals of foreign currency from accounts.。