BlackRock, Inc. (BLK)

BlackRock to close two Russia-focused ETFs

BlackRock has notified shareholders that it intends to close two exchange traded funds that hold Russian securities after seeing their value plunge following the invasion of Ukraine. Trading activity was already suspended in early March in BlackRock’s iShares European-listed Russia ETF (CSRU), and BlackRock’s iShares MSCI eastern Europe ETF (IEER) which held a 67 per cent weighting in Russian stocks prior to the invasion. On February 23, the day before Russia’s attack on Ukraine, assets under management in CRSU stood at $215m while IEER held assets worth $128m.