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AS THE WEST rolls out sanctions towards Russia, some overseas banks, largely European, will endure collateral injury. Excluding the nation from the SWIFT financial-messaging system will make it tougher for them to gather funds on their loans. With the rouble so low, these are already much less viable. The direct hit will probably be manageable: at $121bn, the inventory of overseas financial institution loans to Russian corporations and households has shrunk since 2014. However there are different prices. The investment-banking items of some huge lenders might endure losses on Russian securities, whereas private-banking companies could also be whacked by sanctions on Russian oligarchs. Retail-banking branches run by foreigners might also shut. And if sanctions ratchet up, the danger of a authorities default will develop.
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This text appeared within the Finance & economics part of the print version below the headline “Nyet curiosity”