Shockwaves rolled through the Russian investment community today with news that masked policemen stormed Deutsche Bank’s main Moscow office grilling bankers and frightening employees. The raid, reportedly tied to a probe of investments by a political foe of Putin, Inc., comes just days after President Medvedev unveiled a plan to establish Moscow as an international financial center akin to Hong Kong and Singapore.
The New York Times reported today:
Whatever the legal or political missteps of such clients, foreign bankers in Moscow have for years implored the government to refrain from conducting such jarring raids on bank offices. Sometimes, police wielding guns force stock analysts and economists onto the floors of their offices.
That’s not the way to boost investor confidence.
