Russia’s richest man, Oleg Deripaska, has been forced to sell a holding in a Canadian auto parts company after he was hit by a multi-billion dollar margin call from BNP Paribas, as analysts warn the financial crisis in Russia could be worse than previously thought.

Deripaska has handed a 20% stake in Canada's Magna that was bought fourteen months ago for $1.54bn (€1.11bn) to BNP Paribas after the French bank called in a $1.2bn loan collateralised against the holding.