Goldman Sachs to exit Russia

Goldman Sachs is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements,

the company said Thursday in an emailed statement.

“We are focused on supporting our clients across the globe in managing or closing out pre-existing obligations in the market and ensuring the well-being of our people.”

Bloomberg pointed out that Russia does not represent a major share in Goldman's global portfolio. In its annual filing earlier, the bank had disclosed a credit exposure to Russia of USD 650 million, most of it to non-state partners and debtors.Bank of International Settlements data shows that U.S. bank exposure to Russia totals $14.7 billion.

Although Goldman is exiting Russia, the bank will continue to trade corporate bonds linked to the country, but only for the benefit of clients and on the secondary market, in order to reduce risk in the Russian securities market.

Goldman has already started to relocate its Moscow workforce to Dubai a few days ago, after several people indicated they wanted to work elsewhere.

Other U.S. banks operating in Russia include JPMorgan, which declined to comment on what its plans were.Goldman is the first Wall Street bank to announce a move out of Russia, while its retail arm Citigroup, for example, is considering a similar move.

Citigroup said on Wednesday it was operating its Russian consumer business on a more limited basis while sticking with its previous plans to divest the franchise.

Citigroup has been planning to sell its Russian retail subsidiary for a year, but the Russian-Ukrainian war could derail the plan and the US bank may simply have to write off the Russian subsidiary as a loss, the Financial Times reports.

The sale of Russia's retail subsidiary Citi has been mooted for nearly a year, but potential buyers have disappeared after sanctions were imposed over the Russia-Ukraine war. A Citi source told the paper:

We are running out of options, closing everything down may be the only option left.

Citi has about $10 billion of exposure to Russia, with loans, government bonds and other assets there, some of which are part of its retail business.

Many of the potential buyers for Citi's Russian retail subsidiary are under sanctions, and may be looking for a foreign buyer that is neutral on the conflict, such as China. But even then they can only get rid of the Russian retail subsidiary at a significant discount

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