Press release of WEISSWERT Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH

Russian securities: Deadline for investors ends today at midnight - Deutsche Bundesbank now in the focus

• Deadline for ADR investors ends today at midnight
• WEISSWERT provides information and a form free of charge
• Many customers are let down by banks
• Deutsche Bundesbank now in the focus of investors

Stuttgart, 25.09.2023

Today at midnight an important deadline for investors invested in securities of Russian companies will end. The investors want to avoid the total loss of their investments with the help of the German Federal Bank ("Deutsche Bundesbank", hereinafter also Bundesbank) and submit a derogation application for exemption to convert securities.

In concrete terms, private and institutional investors have invested in depositary receipts with underlying Russian shares, so-called ADRs or GDRs. These programs have been set up for almost all of Russia's major corporations, such as Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosneft. However, due to the Ukraine war and the sanctions imposed by the West and Russia, the ADR programs are being terminated. Investors are threatened with total loss if the conversion into original shares is not successful. With the submission of derogation applications, the investors now want to set the legal course for converting the ADRs into their underlying original shares.

Until midnight derogation applications with regard to the conversion of ADRs can be submitted to the Deutsche Bundesbank (depending on the jurisdiction in individual cases also to other authorities across Europe), also by e-mail.

"I strongly advise investors to file such an application, even incompletely if necessary. It is important to hold the ball in the play and to keep the deadline", explains WEISSWERT attorney Maximilian Weiss. On WEISSWERT‘s website (www.weisswert.de) investors receive free of charge further information as well as a form for the application.


Many custodian banks let their customers down

It was not until September 6, 2023, and thus only a short time before the end of the deadline, that the Bundesbank published further information on how to submit such a derogation application. "However, all this would not have been too bad if the custodian banks had helped in this matter. The Bundesbank specifically asked custodian banks to submit these applications for their customers. But many custodian banks refused to do just that. Numerous investors must apply quickly and on their own now – and they are overhwhelmed with the procedure", explains WEISSWERT attorney Maximilian Weiss.

Deutsche Bundesbank now in the focus of investors

The Bundesbank must process numerous applications from investors until December 25, 2023. In the meantime, many investors are opening securities accounts with a connection to the Russian central securities depository in order to fulfill an important prerequisite for the exemption and they will submit related documents, if available, in ongoing application procedures. The affected investors are now hoping for an investor-friendly decision-making practice of the Bundesbank: "Many investors are highly disappointed with banks, custodians and politicians in connection with the ADR issue. If the Bundesbank handles the applications pragmatically and favourably, this would certainly be a balm for the souls of many investors," Weiss summarizes.

Contact:
WEISSWERT Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH
Maximilian Weiss, LL.M. (Northwestern)
Feuerbacher Weg 51 | 70192 Stuttgart | Germany
Tel.: + 49 711 340383 00
 

WEISSWERT Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH – Wir schützen Ihr Vermögen. WEISSWERT is a Stuttgart-based law firm specializing in banking law and capital markets law with experience in pursuing complex litigation. WEISSWERT was founded in 2022 by Maximilian Weiss, an attorney specialized in investment-related disputes. The firm’s mission is to rigorously represent investors' interests at the highest level of legal competence, whether in- or out-of-court, throughout Germany or internationally.

Mail: presse@weisswert.de
Web: www.weisswert.de