Sanctions imposed by the West on Russia’s VTB Bank amid the furore over Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea have forced its investment banking arm, VTB Capital, to switch focus to Asia.

Sanctions imposed by the West on Russia’s VTB Bank amid the furore over Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea have forced its investment banking arm, VTB Capital, to switch focus to Asia, according to Reuters.

VTB Bank, which is Russia's second-largest bank by assets, was sanctioned by the US and European Union. This has put a limit on its access to international capital along with other Russian state banks.

Yuri Soloviev, chairman of VTB Capital, was quoted saying that the firm was looking at reducing its investment-banking presence in the US because of lower demand for its services and was refocusing its team in UK.

"The West is pushing us towards Asia," Soloviev reportedly said on the sidelines of VTB Capital's annual investment forum. "Of course, the general market environment in Russia is negative. Volumes in equity and debt capital markets (DCM) are around 60 per cent lower this year, which means lower commissions. The markets are essentially frozen."

He said VTB Capital was planning to move staff around and restructure its teams to place less emphasis on Western markets. He did not clarify how many people the bank could move or whether the bank was planning any major staff cuts.

He said he saw scope for a reduction in personnel at VTB Group, which employs more than 100,000 people, but saw room for expansion in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

"A new angle which is going to become very popular is the issuance of Russian companies in Asian countries. We are the only DCM franchise in Russia which has organised Hong Kong dollar, local [yuan], Singapore dollar and [Australian dollar] issues," he said.