Russia’s central bank has asked a Belgian court to send a bailiff to Euroclear’s headquarters to seize documents it said could show coordination between the depository and European institutions over frozen Russian assets, L’Echo reported on Thursday.
The bank alleged that Euroclear and EU institutions were in contact over the summer to amend a European regulation in a way that favoured Euroclear.
At a hearing on Tuesday before the commercial court in Brussels, the bank’s lawyers said “miraculous changes” had appeared in a European regulation this summer. They said those changes addressed legal issues they had previously raised.
The lawyers also referred to numerous meetings between Euroclear officials and European civil servants, arguing that the resulting text was effectively “tailor-made” and could not be explained by chance.
The Russian central bank has asked the court to appoint a bailiff to go to Euroclear’s headquarters with an IT expert. It wants the bailiff to “collect, inventory and preserve” any documents that could prove exchanges between Euroclear and European institutions during the summer.
The bank has also asked the court to impose a penalty payment of €500,000 for each day of delay in complying with the order, capped at €10 million.
The case has been scheduled for pleadings in February and March 2027.
