Russian bourse to start share trading in US dollar
Russia’s mega bourse will start trading foreign securities priced in US dollars by the end of this month in a major upgrade to its infrastructure.
On 27 September 2021, the Moscow Exchange will launch trading on international shares with settlement in US Dollars. The move comes amid Kremlin-backed efforts to make MOEX one of the world’s leading financial hubs.
MOEX plans to make more international securities available for trading in the future based on demand from market participants. Trades are settled in both Russian rubles and the stock’s native currency.
Moex has seen a flurry of IPOs and secondary offerings as the regulators continue to simplify the investment environment and remove obstacles to new listings. The exchange launched trading in international equities on 24 August 2020. Since then, the total number of foreign securities available for trading on Moscow Exchange has risen to 282.
Boris Blokhin, Head of the MOEX Equity Market, said: “Last year we provided investors with a unique product by launching trading in shares of international companies for roubles. Today, we see that the market is mature, the products are of interest to participants and their clients, and the trading volume and the number of investors is continuously growing. With that in mind, we are expanding our offering by introducing trading in foreign currencies. Now any investor will be able to choose the option that suits him or her best, without having to convert. We will continuously increase the number of instruments, currencies and services available to brokers and their clients.”
MOEX has also extended trading hours in a move aimed at attracting a greater number of foreign investors and to drive more liquidity. Overall, there had been a jump in retail activity throughout 2020 and 2021. Amid concerns over the economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak, there was a brighter side for all trading platforms, which attracted a rush of business as investors scrambled to protect portfolios.
Money may be invested into MOEX’s securities market instruments, such as forex, shares, government and corporate bonds, as well as ETFs and mutual funds.
MOEX, which runs one of the largest FX trading platforms, revealed that its total FX turnover hit RUB 23.0 trillion ($315 billion) in August 2021. That compares to RUB 25.8 trillion in July.
