Ongoing claims by VTB Capital in the English Commercial Court arising out of UK and EU sanctions

8 July 2026

In 2025 VTB Capital plc (the UK subsidiary of Russian VTB Bank PJSC, which entered administration in 2022) issued claims against 3 investment institutions, for their actions following the freeze of VTB’s, and therefore VTBC’s, assets and accounts under UK and EU sanctions on Russia. The claims are all ongoing in the English Commercial Court:

1.In VTB Capital PLC (in administration) v Citigroup Global Markets Ltd (CL-2024-000333) VTBC claims that Citigroup liquidated equity derivatives held in VTBC’s account in an irrational way. The liquidation was triggered because VTBC was unable to satisfy a margin call (a request for collateral payments to meet minimum requirements to continue trading the derivatives) after VTBC’s assets were frozen by UK sanctions.

2.In VTB Capital PLC (in administration) v Continental Capital Markets Ltd (LM-2025-000237) VTBC claims that CCM was not entitled to terminate the parties’ contracts for trading Russian debt securities when Euroclear froze VTBC’s accounts to comply with EU sanctions. It disputes CCM’s argument that VTBC had frustrated or committed a repudiatory breach of the contracts when its accounts were frozen, on the basis that the trades were merely delayed and could have been carried out under general licences such as those issued by OFSI in 2022.

3.In VTB Capital PLC (in administration) v JPMS (BL-2025-000675) VTBC claims that JPMS’ decision to end VTBC’s open derivative contracts by selling them internally (and not on the public exchange) when VTBC’s assets were frozen under EU and UK sanctions breached its common law duty of good faith, and that JPMS owes it the proceeds of the sale. JPMS’ defence is that paying out the proceeds to a sanctioned entity would expose it to criminal and civil penalties. VTB Bank PJSC also issued a claim against JPMS in Russia, seeking an order that JPMS pay the value of contracts terminated because of US, EU, and UK Russia sanctions to VTB. The Russian courts granted freezing orders against JPMS’ Russian assets as security (see our Russia arbitration page). JPMS’ application to the UK High Court for anti-suit and anti-enforcement injunctions in relation to the Russian courts’ decisions were granted in June 2025 – see our coverage of the judgment and the context of the litigation.