Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, Lawrence White

LONDON, (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE 🙂 became Thursday’s first U.S. Bank to leave Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Credit Suisse (SIX,) claimed that its gross exposure to Russia was 1.6 billion Swiss Swiss Francs ($1.73 Billion) as of 2021.

Goldman Sachs has $650 million of credit exposure to Russia. This move will increase competition from other lenders.

According to an insider, any losses are “immaterial”.[nL3N2VD3DU]

Western corporations have begun to leave Russia as a mass response to Russia’s invasion. The United States, the European Union and Britain placed sanctions on Moscow that would prevent it from accessing the global financial market.

As the third week of the conflict begins, banks, insurance companies, and asset managers have tried to distance themselves and evaluate their risks.

Credit Suisse, the most recent European bank to disclose the extent of possible losses was Credit Suisse. It said it included both lending to high-net worth clients and trade finance exposure.

Italy’s UniCredit, France’s BNP Paribas and France’s BNP Paribas both have disclosed Russia risks worth billions. Banks could be in serious trouble if Russia seizes assets or sanctions make Russia-related securities unmarketable.

Deutsche Bank (DE) It said that Russia was its largest credit-risk country and Ukraine had a combined exposure of 2.9 billion euro. This claim has been further reduced over the past week.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation.”

Analysts and investors worry that the possible losses by major European lenders will not pose a threat to their stability. However, it may cause them to stop their turnaround plans or pay shareholders.

Conflict has potentially also scuppered planned European Central Bank interest rate rises, with policymakers expecting to arrive at their meeting on Thursday split as to how they should proceed. They are wary of making errors and uncertain about the future.

BNP Paribas has, however, cut its Russia-based staff from its computer systems in an attempt to strengthen its defenses against cyber attacks. This is yet another indication of the impact that conflict is having on Western financial institutions.

French banks are believed to be the first to ban Moscow staff from their IT networks. They also have employees stationed in other areas on alert for any cyber-threats coming from Russia.

($1 = 0.9269 Swiss francs)