Londongrad Dealmakers Face Sanctions Hit After $180 Billion Boom
By Matthew Campbell and Morgane Lapeyre
Russian companies have made $180 billion in deals globally in the past two years, providing steady profits to London bankers, lawyers, and image crafters as the city has become a hub for such transactions. Sanctions planned by the U.S. and European Union threaten that business.
The potential fallout highlights the web of connections linking Russia to the global financial system. Since many large Russian companies are controlled by the state or by billionaires with close ties to President Vladimir Putin, even narrowly targeted sanctions could hurt their global operations.
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“There’s a huge amount of business, both industrial and financial, in both directions between the West and Russia,” said Dominic Sanders, a partner in Moscow at law firm Linklaters. “The further the sanctions and retaliation go, the greater the pain.”
While wealthy Russians have fanned out across Europe, with businesses incorporated in Luxembourg and Cyprus and homes in Switzerland and the south of France, their impact has been most keenly felt in the British capital. Advisory professionals in the city, dubbed “Londongrad” in a 2010 book by journalists Mark Hollingsworth and Stuart Lansley, have been instrumental in Russian deals.
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The instability spawned by the Ukraine crisis is beginning to dent that. Billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov’s children-goods retailer Detsky Mir Group is postponing a planned London share sale because of tensions over Crimea, according to people familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment.
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-03-17/londongrad-dealmakers-face-sanctions-hit-after-180-billion-boom
Foreign Investors in Russia Vital to Sanctions Debate
By LANDON THOMAS JR.
As the United States and Europe move to punish Russia for its conduct in Ukraine and Crimea with official sanctions, a subtle approach could prove more powerful: pressuring large global investors to reduce their sizable holdings in Russia.
Since central banks began injecting enormous amounts of cash into the worldwide economy in 2009, more than a quarter of a trillion dollars has flowed into the coffers of Russia Inc., part of a broad push by yield-hungry investors into emerging markets.
Most has found its way to companies controlled by the state. Gazprom, the Russian energy giant at the heart of evolving dispute with the West, counts the American mutual fund giants Pimco and BlackRock among its largest investors and creditors...some analysts and economists are pushing for an end to this easy money, a move that would choke off critical funds.
Officials are not likely to take such a major step soon — or ever. Governments are loath to interfere with the free flow of capital; the Obama administration has urged caution in pushing measures that might upset fragile markets. And institutions, with a penchant for profit, generally do not like such restrictions.
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http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/foreign-investors-in-russia-vital-to-sanctions-debate/
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