Russia – CB Accelerated Share Sale Limit

Russia – CB Accelerated Share Sale Limit

On 27 April 2022, RUS CB limited foreign depository receipt share sales.

  • RUS CB confirmed, that to maintain financial stability, it ordered professional depository participants to use separate accounting for shares from foreign depository receipts.
  • Follows RUS CB April 2022 explanation ban on foreign depository receipts.

Instructions

  • The rules require shares of Russian issuers received as a result of the conversion of foreign depository receipts to limit write-offs of such securities to 0.2% during a day.
  • The restrictions will apply to both exchanges and to all over-the-counter transactions.
  • The prescribed measures do not apply to cases where foreign depository receipts were acquired before 1 March 2022, or if the owner has permission of RUS GVT commission.

Reasons

  • RUS CB noted a tendency for residents to acquire depository receipts from non-residents from unfriendly countries for conversion into shares and sale, at organized auctions.
  • This may lead to a disproportionate increase in the supply of local shares on the market, which will have a significant impact on pricing and provoke a drop in quotations.
  • In turn, this will entail negative revaluation of assets by Russian investors and pose a threat to financial market stability.  These measures aim at stabilizing the situation.