CBR temporarily eases requirements for retaining securities on quotation lists

MOSCOW. March 7 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has set a grace period for compliance with requirements to keep securities on the quotation lists, the banking regulator said in a statement.

The companies will not be able to have independent directors on the board of directors (supervisory board) and its committees until a meeting of shareholders at the end of 2022 plus one month.

As a rule, annual meetings of shareholders are held from March 1 to the end of June.

The condition of presence of independent directors on the boards of the companies is stipulated by the requirements of the Moscow Exchange and is a mandatory condition for the inclusion of shares in the first and the second tier. Thus, they should account for not less than 20% of board members in companies from the first quotation list and there should be no less than three of them, while there should be at least two independent directors in companies from the second quotation list.

Additionally, the issuers will not be able to observe the conditions regarding the number of free-floating shares until July 1, 2023. Until October 1, 2022, the companies will be able not to comply with the conditions in terms of the level of credit rating of the issuer (issuer's bond issue) or a guarantor, if the rating met the requirements as of February 1, 2022.

"The implementation of these measures will allow issuers whose securities are included in the stock exchange's quotation lists to maintain the existing level of listing," the banking regulator said in a statement.