Moscow Exchange was established on 19 December 2011 by merging the two largest Moscow-based exchanges, the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange 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. The IPO, 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
The Executive Board consists of 5 members:
Yury Denisov), CEO since 2019 and a past Supervisory Board member
Max Lapin, CFO since 2017
Andrey Burilov, CIO since 2020,
Igor Marich, a 20-year veteran of Moscow Exchange
Dmitry Shcheglov, COO, a veteran of Moscow Exchange and its predecessor MICEX.
For 2020-2021 the Board consists of the following members:
Oleg Vyugin, a respected economist and former head of the Russian financial markets regulator,
Andrey Golikov, Board Member at National Clearing Centre,
Moscow Exchange's shares are publicly traded under the ticker MOEX. As of April 2016 approximately 57% of shares were in the free float, while the following held blocks of shares: Central Bank of Russia, Sberbank, Vnesheconombank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development .
The Equity & Bond Market is a key platform for Russian businesses to raise capital and for domestic and international investors to access equity and debt investment opportunities. The marketplace is the main trading venue for Russian stocks as well as government, municipal, and corporate bonds. In 2013-2014, 16 companies placed stock via Moscow Exchange, raising a total of approximately RUB 200 bln. On the fixed income side, more than 400 bond issues were placed, raising more than RUB 3.4 trln for issuers. Moscow Exchange includes shares of many of Russia's largest companies including Gazprom, Sberbank, Rosneft, Lukoil and VTB . Most global investment banks began to provide their clients with DMA to the Russian market in 2013. As a result of regulatory changes, the internationalcentral securities depositories Euroclear and Clearstream now offer settlement services for Russian stocks and bonds. In addition to attracting international investors to trade on its platform, Moscow Exchange is focused on further developing the domestic investor base. Recent changes to the regulation of pension funds, together with changes to the listing rules, allow more assets of non-state pension funds to be invested into the market. Other legislative changes incentivise retail investors through reduced taxation to invest into stocks and bonds.
Foreign Exchange and Money market
Moscow Exchange's FX and Money Market is a key element of the Russian financial system. The Bank of Russia uses the Exchange's infrastructure to implement monetary policy and provide liquidity to the market through repo transactions and FX swap transactions. For its domestic and international clients, including banks and corporates, Moscow Exchange offers a range of products to manage liquidity and FX exposure. It is the centre of pricing for RUB and offers many RUB currency pairs, all with tight spreads based on a transparent order book. FX Market All transactions on the FX market are centrally cleared by National Clearing Centre. In September 2014, average daily trading volume across all currency pairs was US$22.4 bln. While RUB/USD and RUB/EUR remain the most traded currency pairs, Moscow Exchange also actively promotes trading in other currencies. In particular the RUB/CNY pair has been well received by the market and trading in the GBP and HKD were launched in late 2014.
Derivatives market
Moscow Exchange is one of the 10 largest exchange platforms for derivatives trading globally. The Derivatives Market facilitates trading of options contracts on, as well as futures contracts on indices, shares of both Russian and foreign companies, currency pairs, precious metals, energy and agricultural products. Futures on the RTS Index ranked sixth among the world's most actively traded derivatives on stock market indices according to data from the Futures Industry Association as of June 2014. Futures contracts on the U.S. dollar-Russian ruble are ranked first in global liquidity, according to the Futures Industry Association. As of October 2014, 58 types of futures and 18 types of options are traded on the Exchange.
Commodities markets
Precious metals trading
Moscow Exchange introduced spot trading in gold and silver in 2013. It has postponed a launch of trade in platinum and palladium by end of October or early November 2014 in order to do additional testing of the trading and clearing system.
Grain trading
National Mercantile Exchange is Russia's platform for spot grain trading, as well as in deliverable futures on agricultural products. Since 2002, National Mercantile Exchange has been the platform by which the Russian state executes interventions in the grain market.
Post-trade services, subsidiaries
Moscow Exchange subsidiary National Settlement Depository was granted status as Russia's Central Securities Depository in 2012. Subsequently, Euroclear and Clearstream opened accounts with the NSD, allowing international investors access to Russian bonds and equities. Another Moscow Exchange subsidiary, National Clearing Centre, is Russia's largest clearing center and is the Central Counterparty across all Moscow Exchange markets.
