BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s foreign exchange regulator surveyed banks last week, asking about their business ties with Russia and risk management processes in a bid to gauge spillover effects on China from the West’s tough sanctions against Moscow, seven banking and policy sources told Reuters.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) surveyed lenders about whether they had businesses with Russian peers and how they managed the risk control processes, according to the sources.
The sources said the regulator also queried about business and risk control management with respect to operations in other regions including Belarus and the separatist-led Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, a check on financial assets that involved the United States, and whether banks have set up a contingency plan to deal with extreme situations.
The Russia-Ukraine has roiled global financial markets. World stocks have plunged, oil prices have soared, the Russian rouble has plunged. Russia’s sovereign rating has fallen to junk status and international sanctions could also mean it defaults on its foreign debt.
The SAFE had not responded to Reuters’ request for comments at the time of publication of this article.
(Reporting by the Shanghai and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Toby Chopra)
