Russian responsibility for Euroclear

Euroclear is, however, under pressure to compensate for the growing black hole which now appears in its balance sheet and which worries shareholders.

In response, it is putting strong pressure on the Commission to change its mind on the risk of a direct seizure, according to the three officials, who benefited from anonymity because the issues are sensitive.

Although Commission officials say they are open to such ideas, fulfilling the request requires unanimous approval of the bloc’s 27 national capitals, meaning a concrete decision is unlikely to be made soon.

The issue could, however, be formally examined as part of a broader review of EU sanctions policy currently blocked by Hungary, according to one of the officials.

The original EU agreement – ​​which set aside 10% of windfall profits to cover Euroclear’s legal risks and which predated the creation of the G7 loan – stressed that if the risks did not materialize within five years, unused funds should be returned to the EU.

Under the agreement, the Belgian National Bank and the European Commission can also choose to withhold more if legal costs increase. But exercising this option, critics note, would reduce the sums available to service the G7 loan.