The Great Unfreezing: Russia and China forge new financial world order to bypass Western sanctions
By avagrace // 2025-09-13
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  • Russia and China are developing a new international securities depository as a direct strategic response to the freezing of approximately $67 billion in Russian assets by Western institutions like Euroclear and Clearstream.
  • The initiative aims to create an "independent payment infrastructure" to insulate member nations from U.S. and European sanctions, allowing for seamless cross-border securities trading within the bloc without relying on Western intermediaries.
  • The new system is planned to operate under the auspices of a proposed SCO Development Bank, leveraging the alliance of nations including Russia, China, India and Pakistan to create a self-contained financial ecosystem.
  • While the political will exists, the project faces significant practical hurdles, including the need to build the decades of trust, deep liquidity and universal acceptance that the established Western systems currently enjoy.
  • A successful depository would formalize a bifurcated global financial system, challenging Western economic dominance, diminishing the power of sanctions and accelerating the shift toward a more fragmented, multipolar world order.
In a strategic move to dismantle Western financial dominance, Russia and China are jointly developing a new international securities depository designed to rival and ultimately replace the Belgium-based clearinghouses Euroclear and Clearstream. The announcement, made by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov in an interview published Thursday, Sept. 11, marks a significant escalation in the global financial Cold War, directly responding to the freezing of approximately $67 billion in Russian assets by Western institutions. This initiative aims to create an independent financial infrastructure, insulating member nations from the reach of U.S. and European sanctions and potentially reshaping the global economic landscape for decades to come. The current system, which has governed global finance since the mid-20th century, is heavily centralized around Western institutions and the U.S. dollar. For nations like Russia and China, this centralization represents a critical vulnerability, as demonstrated starkly in mid-2022. Following the imposition of sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, Euroclear and Clearstream abruptly halted all transactions with Russia's National Settlement Depository (NSD) and froze its accounts. (Related: Russia, China moving closer to formal alliance as world inches closer to global war.) The freeze effectively locked Russian investors out of their own assets held abroad. A securities depository, in simplified terms, is like a massive, ultra-secure global safety deposit box for stocks and bonds. Euroclear and Clearstream are the two largest such boxes in the world. When they refused to open their doors to the Russian keyholder, NSD, billions in assets became inaccessible. The Bank of Russia estimates a staggering 5.7 trillion rubles remains blocked, a move Moscow decries as an unlawful seizure of private property.

A response

In response, Siluanov outlined a vision for a new system built on entirely different foundations. The planned alternative would operate under the auspices of a proposed Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Development Bank. The SCO, a political, economic and security alliance that includes Russia, China, India, Pakistan and several Central Asian nations, provides the perfect geopolitical framework for this ambitious project. The goal is to create a self-contained financial ecosystem for its members. The core function of this new depository would be to enable seamless cross-border securities trading among member states. For a Russian investor, it would mean the ability to purchase Chinese or Indian corporate stocks without needing to involve a European or American intermediary. Conversely, it would allow foreign investors from within the bloc to finance infrastructure and other projects inside Russia without fear of their transactions being blocked or scrutinized by Western authorities. "A financial clearing house acts as an intermediary between banks to settle transactions. It ensures the secure and efficient transfer of funds between different financial institutions," said Brighteon.AI's Enoch. "This process verifies and reconciles payment instructions, such as those for direct deposits. By batching and netting transactions, it reduces the number of individual payments that need to be settled. The system is crucial for the stability and smooth operation of the payment system."

A vision for financial independence

The driving philosophy behind the new clearinghouse is the establishment of what Siluanov termed an "independent payment infrastructure." This phrase encapsulates a desire for complete autonomy from the existing Western-controlled networks like SWIFT for payments and Euroclear for securities settlement. For the Kremlin, this independence is viewed as a matter of national security, ensuring its economic stability cannot be held hostage by geopolitical adversaries. However, the path to creating a viable rival to Euroclear is fraught with significant challenges. While the political will is evident, the practical hurdles are immense. Euroclear and Clearstream benefit from decades of established trust, deep liquidity and a universal acceptance that a new entity would take years, if not decades, to build. Furthermore, the high returns currently offered on ruble-denominated assets might attract some risk-tolerant investors, but the persistent threat of secondary sanctions could deter widespread international adoption.

Legal battles on a second front

Parallel to building a new system, Russia is also fighting to reclaim assets within the old one. A group of Russian private investors has taken their case to the Moscow Arbitration Court, filing a lawsuit against the Belgian Treasury and Euroclear itself. They argue that the freezing of their assets is discriminatory and unlawful, and they are seeking licenses from Belgian authorities to unlock their funds. This legal action highlights the profound frustration and sense of injustice felt by those caught in the crossfire of economic warfare. Ultimately, the collaboration between Russia and China to build a rival to Euroclear is more than a technical financial story. It is a direct challenge to the foundational pillars of Western economic power. While its ultimate success is not guaranteed, the attempt itself signals an irreversible shift. The world is moving toward a more fragmented, multipolar financial order where the rules are no longer written exclusively in Washington or Brussels. The great freezing of Russian assets may be remembered not as a demonstration of Western strength, but as the catalyst that forced the emergence of its most formidable competitor. President Donald Trump is trying to break the Russia-China partnership while throwing European tyrants to the wolves. Watch this video. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

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