Ingosstrakh is trying to get 2 billion rubles from the French bank
The insurance company Ingosstrakh is trying to recover 2 billion rubles. from the Russian bank Natixis, a subsidiary of the French financial group Natixis, reported a Vedomosti correspondent from the Moscow Arbitration Court. The insurer demands that the Russian bank repay the debt on Natixis Eurobonds. Third parties involved the Ingosstrakh-Investments Management Company and the Infinitum Depository.
Ingosstrakh acquired Natixis Eurobonds in 2017, but after the imposition of sanctions against NSD in the summer of 2022, the French company ceased to fulfill its obligations to the insurer, a representative of Ingosstrakh said at a court hearing. The claim was brought against the Russian Natixis, not the French one, on the basis of last year’s Presidential Decree No. 430. In accordance with this decree, Russian legal entities must either pay in rubles for their Eurobonds or issue replacement securities. The Ingosstrakh lawyer explained that Natixis must pay the obligations of the parent company because it is its 100% subsidiary and is “in no way financially separated” from it.
Also, the representative of the insurer asked the court to request from both banks two additions to the prospectus for the issue of the controversial Eurobonds: they are not publicly available. Natixis’s defense objected to the motion, citing the fact that the Russian bank did not participate in the issue of these bonds. After this, the Ingosstrakh representative offered to independently translate the court’s request into French and send it to Natixis. The court granted this request in order to save time.
The last motion stated at the meeting was a request from the Natixis defense to contact the Russian Ministry of Justice to establish the applicable rules of English law. He explained this request by saying that such a condition exists in the basic conditions for issuing controversial papers. A representative of Ingosstrakh objected to the motion, calling it premature. The court expressed a similar opinion and left the petition open until consideration at the next hearing. It will take place on November 7th.
Natixis is a subsidiary of Groupe BPCE, one of the largest banking groups in France, and specializes in investment banking and asset management.
Natixis is a Russian universal bank that provides services to large corporate clients and is mainly focused on investment activities, transactions in the foreign exchange market and securities, trade finance, syndicated and interbank lending. The bank was established in 2001 under the name “Natexis Banques Populaires” by the French bank of the same name Natexis Banques Populaires and registered in Moscow in January 2002.
According to reporting data for 2022, Natixis does not hold individual funds – only other banks and companies. Over the past year, deposits of legal entities in the bank decreased from 2.4 billion to 270 million rubles. Assets decreased from 27.7 billion to 7.1 billion rubles. At the same time, the bank earned a net profit of 90 million rubles. against 48 million rubles. loss in 2021
Vedomosti sent inquiries to Ingosstrakh and Natiksis.