(Bloomberg) — BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group and Van Eck Associates are among large asset managers facing a ticking clock if they want to unload stakes in financial firms sanctioned for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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The U.S. Treasury Department gave fund managers until May 25 to find non-U.S. buyers for their equity and debt holdings in five Russian entities, including VTB Bank PJSC and VEB.RF. The firms also must sever business ties with VTB, which was stripped of its access to infrastructure for the settlement of trades in European markets.
“Portfolio managers face a balancing act between complying with sanctions and complying with their obligations to fund shareholders under other laws and objectives, which include trying to match an index,” said Jay Baris, a law partner at Sidley Austin. “In a volatile market they must determine whether to hold the…
