Teneo takes on administration of Russian bank's UK arm

15 December 2022 Consultancy.uk

The British unit of Russian bank VTB has been placed in administration, after it was stung by sanctions following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Administrators from Teneo were installed for the process.

VTB Bank is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered in St. Petersburg; as of 2022 company's capital stock was mostly owned by three Russian agencies. The organisation’s close ties to Russia’s government have inevitably seen it targeted by sanctions, following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military. Britain froze VTB's assets in late February 2022.

As such, stories have circled about the future of the London-based arm of VTB Bank since March. Russia’s second-largest lender was reported as being close going into insolvency proceedings after international sanctions curbed its ability to continue operating – and Sky News said at the time British banking regulators had even drafted in advisers to help deal with the unravelling of VTB Capital's operations in the City.

Teneo takes on administration of Russian bank's UK arm

Now it has been revealed that VTB fell into administration in April, subject to the sanctions licences being obtained, after its unit was judge to be no longer unable to operate. While a court ruled that in the first half of the year, however, administrators have only just been installed.

Stephen Browne and David Soden of Teneo have been named as administrators of VTB Capital, as of early December, Teneo said in a statement. Browne and Soden are now using sanctions licences to realise frozen assets of the unit, Teneo added, noting that this would enable repayment to non-sanctioned creditors.

The news echoes the collapse of CargoLogicAir, which fell into administration in autumn due to its former director being hit by sanctions. David Buchler and Jo Milner of Buchler Phillips were named as joint administrators of the firm.