Converting depositary receipts to be possible without appealing to foreign infrastructure - Central Bank

MOSCOW. June 15 (Interfax) - The holders of depositary receipts that have been blocked from conversion owing to sanctions restrictions will be able to convert their receipts through a Russian depository without needing to appeal for operations with a foreign infrastructure; and the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has participated in drafting amendments to the federal law on terminating programs of depositary receipts, the regulator's press service has told Interfax.

The amendments envisage a special procedure for converting depositary receipts into Russian shares for owners who could not use the mechanisms of the depositary agreement, the press service specified.

"In cases of converting with a sanction element on the part of the issuer or the owner, a declarative procedure for converting through a Russian depository is provided without the need to appeal for operations to foreign infrastructures," the press service answered in response to an Interfax inquiry.

According to the CBR, automatic conversion will be provided without appealing to foreign nominal holders for those owners whose rights are recorded in Russian depositories.

The CBR stressed that the amendments have been drafted in order to prevent investors from losing their investments.