MOEX becomes first organization in register of DFA exchange operators

MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - The Bank of Russia has included the Moscow Exchange in its register of digital financial asset (DFA) exchange operators, the regulator said in a statement.

Organizations are entitled to carry out such activities only if they are in the register. In advance, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) approves the rules of DFA exchange and confirms the technical capability to execute the transactions stipulated by these rules.

The appearance of the first DFA exchange operator is an important step for the development of the market of such financial instruments, the Central Bank said.

The Bank of Russia also included the National Settlement Depository (NSD, part of the Moscow Exchange group) in the register of information system operators issuing DFAs.

The Moscow Exchange plans to begin working with DFA by the end of the year, Sergey Demidov, the exchange's chief of information security, told Interfax on the sidelines of the Bank of Russia Financial Congress in July. For this purpose, NSD must obtain the status of an information system operator, and the exchange itself must obtain the status of an exchange operator.

NSD has become the tenth information system operator for issue of DFAs. In addition to NSD, the CBR register includes Sberbank, Alfa Bank, Promsvyazbank, Eurofinance Mosnarbank, the Atomyze blockchain platform, Masterchain, fintech company Lighthouse, SPB Exchange and Blockchain Hub (a subsidiary of MTS).