The Moscow Exchange is considering allowing the trading of digital assets on its platform. This would allow for a wider range of investment opportunities for its participants and provide access to a new asset class.
Russia’s stock exchange expects to pass bill that would allow for the issuance and trade of digital securities on a crypto exchange. The bill is a response to the increasing interest in digital assets and their potential for investment. If passed, the bill would allow for the creation of a digital securities market in Moscow.
According to a source in the Russian press, the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is writing a bill to allow trading in digital financial assets (DFAs) and securities based on them. This information comes from a report on the MOEX.
According to a report in Vedomosti newspaper that was published on Thursday, the stock exchange is authoring the bill on behalf of the Russian Central Bank, which does not have the authority to introduce legislation on its own.
At a banking conference, Sergei Shvetsov, chair of the MOEX supervisory board, indicated that the pending legislation allows for the trading of both DFAs and DFA certificates that would trade like securities. “The exchange and its subsidiaries will apply to the regulator and I hope that they will receive the status of exchange operators” to trade in DFAs, Shvetsov said. He added:
“We want the market to make its own choice between blockchain accounting and depositary accounting, and if the law is passed, Russian depositories will be able to hold DFAs in their accounts on the blockchain — as soon as the client needs the underlying asset, they redeem the certificate and receive the asset in their account on the blockchain.”
According to Shvetsov, distributed ledger technology is struggling in Russia because of a lack of knowledge. It’s a blank page that we can draw whatever we want on, according to the needs of the economy and investors, he added. “When you don’t know who to call and who to sue, many people don’t want to participate.”
According to Shvetsov, the law has been sent to the Russian Central Bank for assessment. Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Russian Banking Association and chair of the State Duma’s finance committee, proposed in July that MOEX become a crypto exchange like the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Deutsche Boerse.
In August, a spokesman for MOEX remarked, “We anticipate being permitted to trade DFAs.” “It’s in the interests of our clients,” MOEX International managing director of strategy Artem Zheleznov said.
