Admitting non-residents to exchange trading under discussion, differentiating by 'friendliness' possible - Central Bank

MOSCOW. May 31 (Interfax) - The matter of admitting non-residents to trade on the Moscow Exchange during a special session is under discussion, and differentiating the terms and conditions for so-called unfriendly and friendly jurisdictions is possible, Central Bank of Russia (CBR) First Deputy Governor Ksenia Yudaeva told reporters.

"The matter has not yet been finally resolved, and it is being discussed. Different terms and conditions [for residents of 'unfriendly' and 'friendly' countries] are possible," Yudaeva said when answering whether admission is under discussion, and whether country differentiation for sessions is possible.

Interfax's sources previously reported that the Moscow Exchange planned at the end of June to launch a separate trading session for non-residents, during which they would be able to buy and sell Russian securities for rubles. Non-residents' trades would be in negotiation mode, at least for the first time.

The Russian authorities introduced the ban on the sale of securities on behalf of non-residents as one of the first capital controls in late February owing to the unprecedentedly severe sanctions resulting from the events in Ukraine. The government has eased or lifted some of the restrictions since then, though non-residents' assets remain blocked on the equities market.

Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina at the end of April said that the regulator was discussing the possibility of portfolio investments by non-residents through special C-type accounts, though it was too soon at the time to discuss withdrawal of their investments from the equities market.

A market participant familiar with the situation told Interfax that brokers are currently preparing the corresponding IT solutions in order to enable their blocked non-resident clients to trade during the session.

There are no plans to transfer foreigners from the special trading session of the Moscow Exchange to the regular one in any near future, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said last week.