Moscow Exchange

History

Moscow Exchange was established on 19 December 2011 by merging the two largest Moscow-based exchanges, the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) and the Russian Trading System, hence the name "Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS". Both organisations had been formed in the 1990s and were the leading Russian exchanges for two decades with their MICEX Index and the RTS Index. The merger created a single entity and advanced Russia's plans to turn Moscow into an international financial centre. The exchange rebranded in July 2012.

The exchange completed its initial public offering on 15 February 2013, raising 15 billion rubles (approximately $500 million). The offering, at the time the largest ever held exclusively in Moscow, was more than twice oversubscribed and drew demand from institutional investors globally. The exchange's shares were included in the MSCI Russia Index as of 26 November 2013. In July 2014 the Central Bank of Russia, the largest shareholder of the exchange, completed the public sale of shares representing nearly 12% of the exchange. A Russian federal law requires the Central Bank to fully sell its stake in the exchange by 1 January 2016. In October 2018, Moscow Exchange launched the trading of deliverable gold futures on its Derivatives Market. Gold are delivered through precious metals market spot section.

Management Team

Mission of MOEX

Moscow Exchange Group's mission is to promote economic growth in Russia and contribute to the restructuring of the Russian economy by expanding capital-raising opportunities for issuers and facilitating a client-friendly, safe and transparent environment for local and international investors.

About the exchange

The stock market of the Moscow Exchange trades in shares, federal loan bonds (OFZ), regional and corporate bonds, sovereign and corporate Eurobonds, depositary receipts, investment units, mortgage participation certificates and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Shares are settled using the T+2 technology (on the second day after the conclusion of the transaction).

On the derivatives market of the Moscow Exchange, the following are traded: futures contracts for indices (Moscow Exchange Index, RTS index, RVI volatility index); futures on Russian and foreign stocks, OFZ and Eurobonds Russia-30, currency pairs, interest rates; contracts for precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper); oil and sugar futures; option contracts on some of these futures.

The following currencies are traded on the currency market of the Moscow Exchange: US dollar (USD), euro (EUR), Chinese yuan (CNY), British pound (GBP), Hong Kong dollar (HKD), Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH), Kazakh tenge (KZT) and the Belarusian ruble (BYR). The main currency pairs are USD/RUB and EUR/RUB. The weighted average of the USD/RUB currency pair at 11:30 Moscow time with "tomorrow" settlements is used by the Bank of Russia to determine the official US dollar exchange rate.

In the money market, the Moscow Exchange provides the following types of repo services: repo with a CCP, inter-dealer repo, direct repo with the Bank of Russia, repo with a collateral management system. In addition, deposit and credit operations are available, organized by the Bank of Russia, the Pension Fund of Russia, the Federal Treasury of Russia, Vnesheconombank, etc.

Since October 2013, trading in gold and silver has been held. On the platform of JSC "National Commodity Exchange", which is an authorized exchange of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, government procurement interventions are carried out in the grain market.

The Moscow Exchange actively promotes the development of the Russian financial market and its infrastructure, improves technologies and increases the attractiveness of its trading platforms and services for domestic and foreign investors and issuers.

Shareholders of the Moscow Exchange

As of March 16, 2015, the largest shareholders of the exchange are:

Central Bank (11.73%).

Sberbank (9.99%)

Vnesheconombank (8.4%)

EBRD (6.06%)

Shengdong Investment (5.62%)

RDIF Investment Management-6 (5.26%)

MICEX-Finance (2.2%)

Moscow Exchange Indices

The Moscow Exchange indices are the key indicators of the Russian organized securities and derivatives market. The Moscow Exchange calculates indices for stocks, bonds, mixed indices, as well as a number of indicators for the derivatives and currency and money markets.

The main stock indices are the MICEX Index and the RTS Index, which is calculated on the same base of securities, but in different currencies (the MICEX Index is calculated in rubles, the RTS Index - in dollars).

Subsidiaries

A subsidiary of the Moscow Exchange, the National Settlement Depository (NSD) received the status of the Central Securities Depository of Russia in 2012. Subsequently, Euroclear and Clearstream opened accounts with NSD, providing international investors with access to Russian federal government bonds. Another subsidiary of the Moscow Exchange, the National Clearing Center (NCC), is the largest clearing center in Russia and the central counterparty in all markets of the Moscow Exchange.