"Global Banks Appear to Cut Russia, Ukraine Exposure, But Not By Much "

From Real Time Economics:

Bankers tend to abhor risk. Especially geopolitical conflicts involving a nuclear power.

So risk managers around the world probably smiled Wednesday when the numbers came out showing their exposure to Russian creditors fell significantly in the first quarter, while Ukraine was facing the loss of its Crimea region and an escalating battle against pro-Russian fighters on its eastern border.

Internationally active banks reduced their outstanding lending to Russia to $209 billion at the end of March, from $225 billion at the end of 2013, according to the Bank for International Settlements. In the same period, international lending to Ukraine fell to $22 billion from $25 billion on an “ultimate risk” basis, according to the Basel-based institution.

But there’s a catch: Most of the decline in lending exposure to Russia in dollar terms was due to the collapse of the ruble against the dollar. The currency faced a massive exodus on the prospect of escalating sanctions and overall geopolitical risk.

According to another set of statistics from the BIS that adjusts for exchange rates, international claims on Russian borrowers barely budged at all in the first quarter, slipping by just $300 million.
And that could be a problem....MORE