European lender Mintos notes that they will be monitoring RUB currency dynamics on a daily basis, “closing positions at the end of the working day to prevent the risk of negative exposure.”
The team at Minto wrote in a blog post that based on the assessment of the RUB standings, they will be “opening currency exchange possibilities in the mornings.” The exchange will remain closed over the weekend, the company confirmed.
On 24 February 2022, the Russia-Ukraine crisis turned into a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine has now imposed martial law in the country, while this new development “resonates across international financial markets.” At present, Mintos says that it is “observing a further growing risk of sanctions that might impact settlement transfers from these markets, and a currency risk that is already materializing, without predictable outcomes in the upcoming period.”
As noted in the update posted on 23 February 2022, Mintos‘ management confirmed that they are “taking the next steps on the Mintos platform to protect investors from market and currency risks materializing in light of this unfortunate event.”
Limited exposure to all loans from Russia and Ukraine on Mintos
While primarily Mintos had introduced the precautionary measure to limit investors’ access to loans from the two countries through the Mintos Conservative strategy, they are now “expanding full limitation for Russia and Ukraine-originated loans on the Mintos Primary Market.”
This limitation reportedly includes loans from the following lending firms: Creditter (LLC MKK “Credditer”), DoZarplati (LLC MFC “Sojuz-5”), EcoFinance (EcoFinance), Kviku (LLMC AirLoans), Lime (Lime Zaim), Mikro Kapital (JSC MFC Mikro Kapital), Mokka (MFC Revo Technology LLC), and SOSCREDIT (LLC “SOS CREDIT”).
In order to protect their investors from the heightened market and currency risk, Mintos is doing the following:
- Excluding all loans from Russia and Ukraine from the Mintos Primary Market
- Removing all companies that issue loans in Russia and Ukraine from the Mintos strategies
- Pausing placement of new loans from Russia and Ukraine on the Mintos platform until the need to reassess the decision emerges
- Pausing currency exchange to and from RUB, for all currencies (approach changed, see update from 25 February 2022)
Please be reminded that:
- Mintos Secondary Market will remain open for investors’ activity with loans from Russia and Ukraine
- Once loans from these companies are removed from the Mintos strategies as a measure of protection for investors, investments in loans by these companies will not be available for the standard cashout. With a temporary removal of Russian and Ukrainian companies from the Mintos strategies, existing investments in these loans will be shown as “unavailable for cashout”. Still, liquidity is possible by selling these loans on the Mintos Secondary Market until further notice
- Currency exchange to and from RUB will be temporarily unavailable, and applicable exchange fees may be influenced by market dynamics relating to exchange rates for RUB.
- The limitation will be activated as of today, 24 February 2022 until further notice. In the meantime, we will closely monitor the situation and adjust our business decisions accordingly.
Note that the ability of borrowers to repay loans on schedule and money transfers are “closely tied to the stability of banks, and currency fluctuation is impacted by dynamics in the financial markets, influenced by the state of war.”
Mintos also mentioned that they want you “to know that Mintos people stand with all colleagues, investors, and business partners who are impacted by the emerging war in Ukraine.”