Putin’s Tax Hikes Compound Pandemic Angst for Wealth Managers

Russian money managers aren’t just scrambling to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Now they have to contend with recent tax changes introduced on the wealthy by President Vladimir Putin.

Along with an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the changes are stoking anxiety among investors.

Vladimir Putin

Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

“One client moved $5 million to another CIS country after Putin’s speech, but beyond that there were no immediate actions, just many questions,” said Viktoria Denisova, head of private banking at Otkritie Bank, referring to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose grouping of former Soviet nations.

As cases of ...