Central Bank asked a Brussels court to seize Euroclear documents on contacts with the European Commission

The Bank of Russia has filed a request with a Brussels court for the seizure of documents at Euroclear: the regulator wants to verify whether the depository discussed summer amendments to the sanctions regulation with the European Commission and the Council of the EU. According to L’Echo, the Central Bank believes the amendments were adopted in Euroclear's interests in the dispute over frozen assets.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 5 November 2026 at 17:452 min read

The key facts

The Central Bank asks a Brussels court to send a bailiff to Euroclear to seize documents from the summer of 2026
The matter concerns the depository's contacts with the European Commission and the Council of the EU regarding amendments to the sanctions regulation
The Central Bank's claim against Euroclear for approximately 18.2 trillion rubles was granted by a Moscow court in March 2026; the Central Bank has already challenged the July EU amendments before the Court of Justice of the EU

Request to seize documents

The Bank of Russia has asked a court in Brussels to send a bailiff to the headquarters of the Euroclear depository to seize documents. This was reported by the Belgian newspaper L’Echo, which Life.ru cites. The regulator asks to copy, describe and preserve paper and electronic materials from the summer of 2026 — in the Central Bank's view, they may show whether Euroclear discussed amendments to the sanctions regulation with the European Commission and the Council of the EU.

The essence of the claims and the context of the dispute

According to L’Echo, the Bank of Russia believes the amendments were adopted in Euroclear's interests in order to influence the proceedings in Belgium, where the depository is trying to prevent enforcement of a Russian court ruling awarding damages over the freezing of assets. More than 200 billion euros in Russian assets frozen after sanctions were imposed in 2022 are blocked at Euroclear. In December 2025, the Central Bank filed with a Moscow court a claim against the Belgian depository for approximately 18.2 trillion rubles, and in March 2026 the court granted these claims; after that, the regulator began seeking recognition and enforcement of the ruling abroad.

The EU's countermeasures and the next case

In the summer of 2026, the European Union introduced a mechanism allowing courts of EU member states to bar Russian persons from seeking enforcement of certain rulings by Russian courts. The Bank of Russia has already challenged these July amendments before the Court of Justice of the EU — thus, the request to seize documents runs parallel to this appeal and is part of a broader legal battle over the frozen reserves. The publication does not report any reaction from Euroclear or the Brussels court to the Central Bank's request.