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(Bloomberg) -- UBS Group AG triggered margin calls on some wealth management clients that use Russian bonds as collateral for their portfolios after marking down the value of debt issued by the country and its corporations.

The Swiss wealth manager is calling on some investors to add either cash or securities to their portfolio after cutting the lending value of some Russian bonds to zero, people with knowledge of the matter said. While the sovereign bonds still trade around 50 cents on dollar, and many Russian corporate bonds are well above that, UBS’s move signals it essentially will no longer accept them as collateral.

The bank may liquidate the securities at market value for those clients that can’t meet the additional requirements, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private.
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Russia’s sovereign bonds plummeted Thursday, taking some to distressed levels, as President Vladimir Putin’s decision to order a military attack on Ukraine cast a pall over global markets. The nation’s shares slumped the most on record after a trading suspension ended, while the ruble reached a record low.
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