Govt approves list of countries, banks, brokers that can participate in forex trading in Russia

MOSCOW. Sept 21 (Interfax) - Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order to approve a list of countries, banks and brokers that will be given access to trading on the Russian forex market, as well as the derivatives market, the Cabinet said in a statement.

The list includes more than 30 countries, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brazil, Venezuela, Vietnam, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Qatar, China, Cuba, Malaysia, Morocco, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey and South Africa.

From the list proposed by the Ministry of Finance in July, which included 44 states, the version approved by the government did not include: Argentina, Georgia, Hong Kong, Israel, Cambodia, Mexico, Moldova, Peru, Tunisia, Uruguay, Philippines, or Chile.

The list was compiled to implement new provisions of the federal law on organized trading that were passed in July 2023. They are intended to increase the efficiency of the mechanism for direct conversion of the national currencies of friendly and neutral countries and establish direct quotes for the ruble to meet the Russian economy's demand for settlements in the national currency.

The requirements for foreign banks and brokers granted access to forex and derivatives trading will be set by the Russian Central Bank.

A memo attached to the law said that now non-resident banks from Eurasian Economic Union countries and Tajikistan have direct access to Russia's forex market. A total of 21 nonresident lending institutions currently operate on the Russian forex market.