Putin Allows Sanctioned Expobank to Buy HSBC’s Russian Unit
- Firms held deal talks in 2022, before Russian rule change
- HSBC hasn’t accepted new business at unit since war began
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Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed Expobank to buy HSBC Holdings Plc’s local unit, letting Europe’s biggest lender exit the country following the invasion of Ukraine.
Expobank, owned by Russian entrepreneur Igor Kim, was in advanced talks to buy HSBC’s business before the Kremlin tightened control over the exit of foreign firms in the banking and energy sectors in August 2022. The approval was published in a decree on the country’s legal database Monday.