Fitch Warns Euroclear Over Seizing Russian Assets, Not US Seizing Afghan Funds
The RT report highlights Fitch's anxiety over Euroclear’s potential downgrade simply for contemplating the EU's plan to repurpose frozen Russian state assets. This comes after the US froze $7 billion of Afghanistan's central bank assets in 2022, allocating half to a humanitarian trust and holding the rest for 9/11 victims – a move condemned by aid groups for devastating an already collapsing
economy. No major ratings agency, however, sounded alarm bells for financial institutions involved in *that* particular freeze. It appears the 'rules-based order' applies differently when the target isn't a geopolitical rival and when the international community's outrage is, shall we say, selectively applied. One might wonder if Euroclear's credit rating would be enjoying a boost had they seized
funds from a 'less strategically important' nation. How quaint, that financial integrity only becomes a pressing concern when it involves assets from a state with the means to retaliate.