The Moscow Exchange (MOEX; ) is the largest exchange in Russia, operating trading markets in equities, bonds, derivatives, the foreign exchange market, money markets, and precious metals. The Moscow Exchange also operates Russia's central securities depository, the National Settlement Depository (NSD), and the country's largest clearing service provider, the National Clearing Centre. The exchange was formed in 2011 in a merger of the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange and the Russian Trading System.
Trading at the exchange was suspended on 24 February 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Trading remained suspended until 21 March, and was then only opened for state bonds. The exchange was also targeted as part of international sanctions against Russia. On August 15 2022, it was announced that the bond market opened to friendly investors.
History
The Moscow Exchange was established on 19 December 2011 by merging the two largest Moscow-based exchanges, the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) and the Russian Trading System, hence the name "Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS". Both organisations had been formed in the 1990s and were leading Russian exchanges for two decades with their MICEX Index and the RTS Index. The merger created a single entity to support Russia's plans to turn Moscow into an international financial centre.
The exchange completed an initial public offering on 15 February 2013, raising (approximately US$500 million). The offering, at the time the largest ever held exclusively in Moscow, was more than twice oversubscribed and drew demand from institutional investors globally. The exchange's shares were included in the MSCI Russia Index in November 2013. In July 2014 the Central Bank of Russia, the largest shareholder of the exchange, completed the public sale of shares representing nearly 12% of the exchange. A Russian federal law requires the Central Bank to fully sell its stake in the exchange by 1 January 2016. In October 2018, Moscow Exchange launched the trading of deliverable gold futures on its Derivatives Market. Gold are delivered through precious metals market spot section.
Suspension of trading due to war in Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, following the start of invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the Moscow Exchange suspended trading until further notice. On 27 February, TASS reported that foreign clients were banned from selling any securities, effective immediately.
On 4 March, the exchange was suspended from the World Federation of Exchanges.
On 18 March it was announced that trading in OFZ bonds should be resumed on 21 March. On 23 March, it was announced that trading of 33 ruble securities would resume on 24 March for residents of Russia, but that foreign investors were being restricted to repo deals and deals with derivative instruments. It was also announced that the act of short selling would be banned. On 26 March, it was announced that limited trading would be expanded to all stocks in a shortened four-hour session on 28 March. It remains unclear if, and if so when, normal operations will resume.
On May 5, the United Kingdom revoked the exchange’s status as a UK "recognized stock exchange", thereby depriving securities traded on the exchange of certain UK tax reliefs.
Management
The Executive Board consists of five members: Yury Denisov, CEO since 2019 and a past supervisory board member Andrey Selyuk, chief financial officer since 2022 Andrey Burilov, chief information officer since 2020, Igor Marich, Managing Director of Sales & Business Development and a 20-year veteran of Moscow Exchange, Dmitry Shcheglov, chief operating officer, a veteran of Moscow Exchange and its predecessor MICEX.
For 2020-2021 the board consisted of the following members: Oleg Vyugin (chairman), an economist and former head of the Russian financial markets regulator Andrey Golikov, board member at National Clearing Centre Maria Gordon, a former emerging markets portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs and PIMCO Valery Goreglyad, chief auditor of the Bank of Russia Bella Zlatkis, deputy chairman of the management board at Sberbank and former deputy finance minister of Russia Vadim Kulik, deputy president of VTB Bank Maxim Krasnykh, global chief operating officer at Gett Paul Bodart, former CEO of BNY Mellon Europe Ramon Adarraga, former executive chairman of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles Market Data Alexander Izosimov, former CEO of Vympelcom Oskar Hartmann, co-founder of Fast Lane Ventures and a board member of Alfa-Bank