European Central Bank Refusing Guarantee for Russian Assets Seized by the EU

The European Central Bank (ECB) has refused to provide a backstop for a €140 billion reparations loan to Ukraine funded by an EU seizure of Russia’s immobilized assets, Financial Times reported on Dec. 2. The bank states that the Ukraine loan proposal of the European Commission violated its mandate, FT writes, citing officials who had asked the ECB whether it could act as a lender of last resort to Euroclear Bank, the lending arm of the Belgium-based central securities depository. An ECB guarantee, which Euroclear desires because a Ukrainian default on its debt is expected, should avoid a liquidity crisis. According to FT, however, ECB officials told the Commission this was impossible.