Raiffeisen Bank International rejected a report by short seller Grizzly Research concerning its Russia-related business. The Austrian bank said the report contained numerous factually incorrect and misleading statements. RBI shares fell more than 8% after the report appeared, Investing.com reported.
Grizzly disclosed that it held a short position and would benefit if RBI’s share price declined. Its report used customs data and bank-code matches to identify trade flows that it associated with restricted goods. Grizzly alleged that the matched trade totalled $1.191 billion, including $106.75 million of items on the Common High Priority List. Those figures are allegations from the short seller, not verified findings against RBI.
REPORT INCLUDED MATERIAL LIMITATIONS
Grizzly’s own methodology stated that a bank-code match does not prove that RBI processed or financed a payment, earned revenue from a transaction or violated sanctions. Grizzly said establishing those facts would require evidence of conduct, jurisdiction and applicable licences.
RBI said it stood by the strength of its compliance systems, which it said had been reviewed many times both before and since the start of the full-scale invasion. The bank has been under scrutiny over its Russian operations since the invasion of Ukraine.
TRAPPED CAPITAL ALSO CITED
Grizzly’s report also said €12.6 billion of cash remained trapped in RBI’s Russian business.