Current procedures for information disclosure take all risks into account; additional restrictions would harm market - Russian Central Bank
MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) - The corporate information disclosure procedures which have been in force since July of this year take all existing sanctions risks into account; the introduction of additional restrictions would harm investors and the market, the Bank of Russia said.
A number of new restrictions were proposed via requests received by the Russian government in September-October, Interfax sources said last week. Letters with proposals to limit a significant part of the reporting, specifically through tightening the norms dictated by the current Russian Government Resolution from July 4, 2023, No. 1102, were sent by Chairman of the Committee of Issuers of Shares of the Moscow Exchange Andrey Bugrov, Head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Construction, and Head of the Federation Council committee, Andrei Klishas, as well as the executive director of the Russian Steel association, Alexey Sentyurin (a feature of his appeal was a proposal to limit disclosure by industry, in this case for metallurgical and pipe companies). The appeals, according to the agency's interlocutors, were sent for analysis to the relevant departments and the Central Bank.
"The Bank of Russia actually received these initiatives. In our opinion, additional restrictions on information disclosure, including limiting information based on industry specifics, will negatively affect the information transparency of the securities market," the Russian Central Bank press service told Interfax.
"We believe that the current version of Russian Government Resolution 1102 optimally combines the relevant restrictions and the amount of "sensitive" information that is not subject to disclosure. This balance allows investors to receive the information they need to make a decision, and issuers to reduce sanctions risks," the Bank of Russia said.
The Ministry of Economic Development also confirms it received proposals. "We will provide our position to the government within the established timeframe. Basically, we believe that any disclosure of information should take into account the sensitivity of its impact on existing and potential sanctions risks," the department's press service told Interfax.
The Finance Ministry's position was previously formulated in response to a letter from Russian Steel, reviewed by Interfax. The Ministry said that Resolution 1102 was prepared "taking into account the need to ensure a balance of interests of financial market participants." The document establishes acceptable cases for the exemption of issuers from obligation to disclose information based on the "sensitive information" list, which covers a wide range of information; this list "appears sufficient to level out potential sanctions risks," and the addition of the resolution on information disclosure with exemptions specifically for metallurgists and pipe makers" is excessive," the Ministry of Finance said.