Draft Regulation

COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2026/…

of …

amending Regulation (EU) 2025/2600 on emergency measures addressing the serious economic difficulties caused by Russia’s actions in the context of the war of aggression against Ukraine, as regards the establishment of a European instrument for the centralised custody and management of immobilised Russian assets[i]

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THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 122(1) thereof,

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Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

 

Whereas:

 

(1) Council Regulation (EU) 2025/2600 established exceptional and temporary emergency measures addressing the serious economic difficulties within the Union caused by Russia’s actions in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine, including a prohibition on the direct or indirect transfer of assets or reserves of the Central Bank of Russia, or of any legal person, entity or body acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, the Central Bank of Russia, such as the Russian National Wealth Fund.

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(2) A significant volume of assets and reserves belonging to the Central Bank of Russia or to entities acting on its behalf remains immobilised within the Union’s financial system pursuant to Union restrictive measures. Those assets are currently held through a limited number of financial arrangements and custodians domiciled in certain Member States. The concentration of such assets in a limited number of national financial infrastructures requires a Union-level response to address the resulting risks to the Union’s economic and financial stability and the orderly functioning of the Union’s financial system.

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(3) In order to address those risks, it is appropriate to establish a Union-level mechanism providing for the centralisation of the custody of those immobilised assets and reserves. The purpose of such centralisation is not to affect the ownership of those assets or reserves, which remains with their respective owners, or the substance of any corresponding creditor entitlement, but to organise their safekeeping and management within a uniform Union framework. This centralised custody arrangement should ensure legal certainty for market operators, safeguard the integrity of the Union’s financial infrastructure and prevent fragmentation in the application of Union measures.

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(4) The centralisation of custody should therefore be carried out through a specific Union instrument entrusted with the safekeeping and management of the assets concerned. That instrument should not have legal personality and should be administered by the Commission on behalf of the Union. It should operate under strict conditions ensuring the full segregation of the assets placed under custody. The establishment of such an instrument should be understood as a technical and administrative mechanism designed to organise custody and management functions at Union level and should not be interpreted as affecting ownership of the assets concerned. Where the transfer includes a corresponding cash liability, substitution of the Union for the transferring entity is necessary to remove the concentration of that liability while preserving the creditor entitlement.

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(5) The measures introduced by this Regulation are exceptional and strictly temporary in nature. They are justified by the current extraordinary circumstances arising from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including Russia’s continued refusal to acknowledge its obligation to provide reparations for the damage caused by its war of aggression, and the risks that those circumstances pose for the Union’s economic and financial stability. The centralisation of custody of the assets concerned should therefore apply only for as long as those circumstances persist and should be subject to regular review in order to ensure that the measures remain necessary and proportionate.

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(6) Accordingly, once the circumstances justifying the temporary measures have ceased to exist, the custody mechanism and the instrument established for that purpose should be wound down in an orderly manner.

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(7) In order to achieve the objectives of the centralised custody mechanism, and in line with the institutional technique used within the Union during the Iraqi conflict, in particular United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483 (2003), as implemented by Council Common Position 2003/495/CFSP and Council Regulation (EC) No 1210/2003, it is appropriate to establish a European instrument for temporary custody and management of the assets and reserves concerned, and to lay down the conditions and procedures enabling the Commission, on behalf of the Union and through that instrument, to receive, hold, safekeep and manage those assets. The Instrument should be open to receiving the assets and reserves concerned both, on a mandatory basis, from entities established in the Union, and, on a voluntary basis, from authorities, central banks, financial institutions or other entities of third countries that elect to transfer custody to the Instrument. Once such custody has been transferred, the Commission, on behalf of the Union, should be empowered to manage those assets and reserves and to invest cash or other assets corresponding to related liabilities in accordance with this Regulation. Any other deployment should require a separate Union act.

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(8) In order to ensure the effective and timely transfer of custody, the reporting and centralisation obligations of entities holding such assets should be reinforced. Regulation (EU) 2025/2600 should therefore be amended accordingly.

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(9) The Union should preserve its right, and the right of its Member States, to take all appropriate measures, in accordance with international law, to address the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including as regards reparations.

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

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Article 1

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Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2025/2600

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Regulation (EU) 2025/2600 is amended as follows:

 

(1) Article 1 is replaced by the following:

 

‘Article 1

Subject matter

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1. This Regulation establishes exceptional and temporary emergency measures addressing the serious economic difficulties within the Union caused by Russia’s actions in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine and the risk of further deterioration of the economic situation in the Union, as well as the related and increasing threats to public security of the Union, including those arising from the exceptional concentration of such assets and related financial positions in a limited number of Member States and financial infrastructures.

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These measures aim to respond to those difficulties and threats in order to avoid a serious deterioration of the economic and financial stability in the Union and its Member States by preventing significant resources from being made available to Russia to continue its actions in the context of the war of aggression against Ukraine.

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2. In order to achieve these objectives, and in line with the international practice followed during the Iraqi conflict, this Regulation establishes the European instrument for temporary custody and management of assets or reserves of the Central Bank of Russia, or of any legal person, entity or body acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, the Central Bank of Russia, such as the Russian National Wealth Fund (the ‘Instrument’). The Instrument shall not have legal personality and shall be administered by the Commission on behalf of the Union.

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3. The assets and reserves of the Central Bank of Russia, or of any legal person, entity or body acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, the Central Bank of Russia, such as the Russian National Wealth Fund, together with any assets corresponding to related liabilities, shall be transferred to the Union for the purposes of the Instrument, and the Union shall assume those liabilities: (i) on a mandatory basis, in accordance with Article 3(1), by all entities established in the Union; and (ii) on a voluntary basis, by authorities, central banks, financial institutions or other entities of third countries, where those third countries or entities elect, and the Commission agrees on the applicable terms, to transfer the relevant financial position to the Union for the purposes of the Instrument.

 

4. This Regulation lays down the conditions and procedures enabling the Commission, acting on behalf of the Union and for the purposes of the Instrument, to:

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(a) receive and hold the assets and reserves referred to in paragraph 3 and any assets corresponding to the related liabilities, and assume those liabilities;

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(b) deposit those assets in safekeeping in one or more direct accounts for securities and cash opened with one or more appropriate financial institutions, which may include central banks;

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(c) provide a record of the ownership of those assets and reserves, or of the corresponding creditor entitlement in the name of the Central Bank of Russia, or of any legal person, entity or body being the legitimate owner or creditor, without prejudice to the prohibition on making such assets, reserves or entitlements available for as long as the measures established by this Regulation apply;

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(d) manage the assets and reserves in custody and invest cash or other assets corresponding to related liabilities in accordance with this Regulation, without prejudice to any separate Union act expressly authorising their further deployment;

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(e) carry out all relevant administrative functions necessary for the efficient attainment of its objectives, including (without limitation) negotiate, execute and sign all legal documentation related to the holding, administration and investment of assets and reserves under custody in compliance with this Regulation, and generally carry out such other administrative acts as are necessary for the successful implementation of this Regulation.’;

 

(2) Article 2 is replaced by the following:

 

‘Article 2

Prohibition on transfer and establishment of the EU instrument

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1. Unless otherwise authorised by this Regulation, any direct or indirect transfer of assets or reserves of the Central Bank of Russia, or of any legal person, entity or body acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, the Central Bank of Russia, such as the Russian National Wealth Fund, or of any corresponding creditor entitlement, shall be prohibited.

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2. With effect, in respect of each transferred position, from completion of the corresponding transfer pursuant to Article 3(1), centralisation of custody and safekeeping of all assets and reserves of the Central Bank of Russia, or of any legal person, entity or body acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, the Central Bank of Russia, such as the Russian National Wealth Fund, shall be assigned to the Union for the purposes of the Instrument. Upon and to the extent of completion of that transfer, the Union shall assume any related liability and receive the assets corresponding to that liability. The Commission shall establish the necessary arrangements (i) for the administration of the Instrument, including its governance, and the management of the assets, reserves and related liabilities transferred to the Union, (ii) for the full legal and accounting segregation of the transferred position from the general budget and the Union’s own assets, and (iii) for the opening or designation of cash, securities and settlement accounts, as appropriate, with the European Central Bank, a national central bank, a central securities depository or another duly authorised financial institution.

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Ownership of the assets or reserves, and the substance of any corresponding creditor entitlement, shall remain with the respective owner or creditor at all times.

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3. Cash balances, assets corresponding to the related liabilities and returns on investments relating to the assets and reserves referred to in paragraph 1 shall be recorded and managed separately. The transfer and assumption of liability shall not alter the remuneration terms applicable to a corresponding creditor entitlement immediately before transfer. Returns generated by the management or investment of assets corresponding to such an entitlement shall not accrue to or increase that entitlement, except to the extent that remuneration was legally due under those terms. Such returns shall be recorded separately and retained for the purposes of the Instrument unless otherwise provided by Union law.’;

 

(3) The following Articles 2a and 2b are inserted:

 

‘Article 2a

Preservation of ownership and creditor entitlements

 

1. Nothing in this Regulation shall be interpreted as affecting the ownership of the assets referred to in Article 2 or the existence, nominal amount, currency and substantive economic terms of any corresponding creditor entitlement.

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2. The measures established by this Regulation consist solely in the temporary centralisation of custody and management functions necessary to protect financial stability.

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3. In respect of any creditor entitlement corresponding to a liability assumed under this Regulation, upon and to the extent of completion of the corresponding transfer, the Union shall, by operation of law and without novation, be substituted for the transferring entity in respect of that liability, and the transferring entity shall be discharged without the consent of the owner or creditor or any further act or formality. The entitlement shall retain its nominal amount, currency, repayment or withdrawal rights, applicable remuneration and other substantive economic terms, subject to the prohibitions laid down in this Regulation. The transfer shall take effect notwithstanding any contractual term or requirement of consent to the contrary.

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4. Assets corresponding to a liability assumed under paragraph 3 shall be held in a segregated pool and shall not be available to the general creditors of the Union.’;

 

 

 

‘Article 2b

Union protection in respect of transfer-related losses

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The financial consequences of compliance with the transfer required by this Regulation shall be borne at Union level. The Union shall compensate any Member State, financial infrastructure, custodian or other entity required to implement that transfer for any qualifying loss, cost or expense directly arising from such compliance, including any such loss, cost or expense resulting from retaliatory action taken by or on behalf of the Russian Federation.

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For the purposes of this Article, retaliatory action may include judicial, legislative, administrative or other action, including seizure, blocking, set-off, non-payment or other action affecting assets, claims or payment rights.

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Protection under this Article shall apply only to net losses sufficiently connected with the transfer required by this Regulation. It shall not cover losses wholly attributable to events preceding and unrelated to that transfer. A beneficiary shall promptly notify the Commission of any claim or measure capable of giving rise to compensation, cooperate with the Commission and take reasonable steps to mitigate its loss. Any amount recovered from another source shall reduce the amount payable by the Union and no beneficiary may recover more than its actual qualifying loss. Upon payment, the Union shall be subrogated to the beneficiary’s rights to the extent of that payment.’;

 

(4) In Article 3, the title is amended to ‘Reporting and transfer arrangements’ and paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

 

‘1. To the extent not already required by other provisions of Union law, and notwithstanding the applicable rules concerning reporting, confidentiality and professional secrecy, natural and legal persons, entities and bodies, including the European Central Bank, national central banks, financial sector entities as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, insurance and reinsurance undertakings as defined in Article 13 of Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, central securities depositories as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council and central counterparties as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall, within 30 days of the entry into force of Council Regulation (EU) 2026/…, provide to the Commission information on the assets, reserves and related liabilities referred to in Article 2 which they hold or control or to which they are a counterparty and shall complete the transfer required by Article 1(3) within 90 days of that entry into force to the accounts opened or designated pursuant to Article 2(2), or by such later date as the Commission may indicate for duly justified operational reasons. Until completion of the transfer, the information provided pursuant to this paragraph shall be updated every three months.

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The Commission, acting on behalf of the Union and for the purposes of the Instrument, may also receive and accept, on such terms as it may determine, assets and reserves of the same nature as those referred to in Article 2 of this Regulation which are held, controlled or immobilised by authorities, central banks, financial institutions or other entities of third countries, where those third countries or entities elect, and the Commission agrees on the applicable terms, to transfer the relevant position to the Union for the purposes of the Instrument. The Commission may conclude the necessary arrangements with the competent authorities of such third countries for the purpose of facilitating such transfers. Any related liability shall be assumed only to the extent provided for in those arrangements and to the extent effective under the applicable law.’;

 

(5) In Article 3, the following paragraph 1a is inserted:

 

‘1a. The information required under paragraph 1 shall at least include the following:

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(a) information identifying the natural or legal persons, entities or bodies owning, holding or controlling such assets and reserves, including the name, address and VAT registration or tax identification number;

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(b) the amount or market value of such assets and reserves at the date of reporting;

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(c) the types of assets or reserves and related liabilities, including securities, cash, claims on money, deposits with financial institutions, balances on accounts, debt obligations, crypto-assets and non-pecuniary assets. For each category, and where available, relevant features such as quantity, location, currency, maturity, identity of the debtor and contractual conditions between the reporting entity and the owner or creditor shall be indicated.’;

 

(6) In Article 6, the following paragraph 1a is inserted:

 

‘1a. Nothing in this Regulation shall be understood as limiting the right of the Union, or of its Member States, to take any further measures, in accordance with international law, to address the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.’;

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(7) In Article 6(2), the words “the orderly winding down of those measures” are replaced by “the orderly winding down of those measures and of the Instrument, including the treatment of liabilities assumed under Article 2a(3) and corresponding assets and creditor entitlements”.

 

 

Article 2

Entry into force

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This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

 

Done at Brussels, …

 

For the Council

The President

…

 

[i] This is an updated version dated September 22, 2026, which incorporates changes from a previous version from May 11, 2026.

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