European banks resume trading in Russian bonds after Wall Street banks did, The Financial Times reports..

The global market for Russian sovereign and corporate bonds froze in June after U.S. investors were banned from buying Russian securities on the secondary market as part of Western sanctions against Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.

But the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces US sanctions, opened a three-month window on July 22 for banks to help investors who are left with now unreliable Russian bonds to get rid of them..

European banks UBS, Barclays and Deutsche Bank have resumed allowing customers to sell their Russian debt, in line with similar moves by US JPMorgan, Bank of America, Jefferies and Citigroup. Other banks, including Credit Suisse and HSBC, have so far refrained from re-entering the Russian debt market due to their lower risk tolerance..

When Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, about $40 billion of Russian government debt remained outstanding, with about half owned by foreign investors..

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US Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) license allows banks to facilitate, clear and settle transactions made by US citizens to reduce their exposure to Russia, even if it involves buying additional securities.

Each bank's influence on Russia is relatively small, and the resumption of debt trading is symbolic as it is one of the few key international markets to reopen after a flurry of Western sanctions hit Moscow.

All banks declined to comment, but people familiar with their actions said the decisions were not motivated by an attempt to profit from the market recovery, but rather to allow clients to reduce their risks in accordance with sanctions rules..

“This is mainly for clients who want to do away with Russian assets,” said one of the bank’s employees, who has resumed trading in Russian debt.. “Volumes are not that significant.”.