Our progress / Quotes

24.06.2016 00:00 / Elvira Nabiullina

Elvira NabiullinaBanks and non-banks will increasingly share their scope of services Three years ago, the Bank of Russia became the financial market megaregulator, assuming all regulatory and oversight functions for the financial industry. Our task was to come up with balanced approaches to non-banking regulation, especially where statutory gaps exist. In banking regulation we have been continually pursuing the implementation of international standards.

08.09.2015 14:10 / Olga Goncharova

Olga GoncharovaFinnopolis: Financial Technologies to Drive Development On 17 September, the inaugural financial innovation forum named Finnopolis 2015 will open in Kazan. The forum is a first for Tatarstan and in many ways, for the entire financial and banking sector.

27.08.2015 15:08 / Alexey Timofeev

Alexey TimofeevNew Role for SROs: a well-planned revolution The new Financial Market SRO Act, signed by the President, is a revolution in Russian financial market regulation and oversight.

28.11.2014 15:03 / Elvira Nabiullina

Elvira NabiullinaOUR POLICY GOALS MUST BE CLEAR A little over a year ago, the Bank of Russia became megaregulator, spreading its control and oversight functions to other financial market segments besides banking. It’s a mass of work, tens of thousands companies: 572 in insurance, 1790 in collective investment, almost 4.5 thousand in microfinance, some 8 thousand pawn shops et cetera. Compare this with a mere 842 companies in banking services, 790 of which are banks.

29.04.2014 15:56 / Denis Spirin

Denis SpirinThe Ideal Model: Why We Need the New Corporate Code The new Corporate Governance Code, passed by the Government and Russia’s financial market megaregulator, the Bank of Russia, deserves to be the news of the day. Sceptics may object that the Code is merely a recommendation, and the best practice of corporate governance contained therein is detached from reality.

09.04.2014 14:06 / Anatoly Karachinsky

Anatoly KarachinskyIDENTIFYING PERFORMANCE RESERVES OF FINANCIAL MARKETS Russia’s financial market produces a staggering billion-plus paper documents yearly. Every individual has to open a bank account, buy insurance, pay fines, taxes, and housing bills. Most people do it by signing papers and wasting time in queues. Most companies have to keep paper copies of their official reports and electronic transactions.

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The Ideal Model: Why We Need the New Corporate Code

29.04.2014 15:56 / Denis Spirin

The new Corporate Governance Code, passed by the Government and Russia’s financial market megaregulator, the Bank of Russia, deserves to be the news of the day. Sceptics may object that the Code is merely a recommendation, and the best practice of corporate governance contained therein is detached from reality.

However, the new Code has strong potential to influence the mood of investors.

We have seen proof in the implementation of the document’s 2002 predecessor, another Corporate Conduct Code that was ahead of its time. Most of its recommendations were put into practice, many went on to become statutory norms. For instance, a number of GSM announcement requirements made their way from the Code into law. The Joint-Stock Companies Act has incorporated dividend payment timeframes recommended by the Code.

Still, changes to the Code were long overdue. The market sees the current level of corporate governance in Russia as low. Traditionally, the level of corporate governance-related discount has been roughly estimated at 30%. We need to set new ambitious goals, so that Russian issuers could raise their value as they gradually improve corporate governance.

The state, as the majority shareholder in many public companies, could offer substantial leverage in the implementation of the new Code.

The new Code can be viewed as several key sets of recommendations.

First and foremost, it is a series of norms aimed at protecting shareholders’ dividend rights. Recommendations include a ban on shareholders deriving income in other form than dividends, as well as the company’s obligation to preserve existing shareholders’ dividend rights in corporate actions.

Another key block of recommendations introduces a more prominent role for the Board of Directors. The Code proposes gradual extension of the Board powers, in particular, assuming control over critical business functions of subsidiaries.

The role of independent directors is also heavily played up in the new recommendations. For instance, they will pre-approve corporate actions that could trigger a potential corporate conflict. The Code also raises the bar for independence criteria. Substantial compensation from a controlling shareholder or his subsidiaries disqualifies a person from assuming the position of independent director.

One of the most important chapters of the Code addresses material corporate actions. Transparency of material corporate actions and guarantees of shareholder interest protection are deemed essential. Takeovers are the hottest topic today. Code recommendations are aimed against incessant abuse that came with extensive takeover norms introduced in Russia by the Joint-Stock Companies Act. For instance, the Code stipulates that minority shareholders shall receive the offer in the event of indirect acquisition as well. The law provides this for direct takeovers only, which often serves as an excuse to bypass mandatory offer.

The new Code aims to define an ideal conduct model that corporations would aspire to. However, the sole viable incentive for compliance with the Code is probably the controlling shareholder’s intention to boost the company’s investor appeal.

As one of the controlling shareholders, the state must be interested in building asset value and motivate others to follow suit.

By approving the draft Code, the Government and the Bank of Russia exerted political will. A possible follow-up could be gradual integration of the Code in the legal system. In particular, many recommendations for material corporate actions, rights of the Board members, internal audit could become statutory norms.

At the same time, the state as the owner could select a number of major public companies that it controls and enforce gradual implementation of the Code in these companies. Naturally, private companies are free to initiate the process themselves. Still, if the state took first steps in this direction, it would set a positive example. The task is not an easy one, but the reward is high.

Read the original at Forbes.ru: http://www.forbes.ru/mneniya-column/konkurentsiya/255735-idealnaya-model-zachem-nuzhen-novyi-korporativnyi-kodeks

28.11.2014 15:03 / Elvira Nabiullina

OUR POLICY GOALS MUST BE CLEAR A little over a year ago, the Bank of Russia became megaregulator, spreading its control and oversight functions to other financial market segments besides banking. It’s a mass of work, tens of thousands companies: 572 in insurance, 1790 in collective investment, almost 4.5 thousand in microfinance, some 8 thousand pawn shops et cetera. Compare this with a mere 842 companies in banking services, 790 of which are banks.

29.04.2014 15:56 / Denis Spirin

The Ideal Model: Why We Need the New Corporate Code The new Corporate Governance Code, passed by the Government and Russia’s financial market megaregulator, the Bank of Russia, deserves to be the news of the day. Sceptics may object that the Code is merely a recommendation, and the best practice of corporate governance contained therein is detached from reality.

09.04.2014 14:06 / Anatoly Karachinsky

IDENTIFYING PERFORMANCE RESERVES OF FINANCIAL MARKETS Russia’s financial market produces a staggering billion-plus paper documents yearly. Every individual has to open a bank account, buy insurance, pay fines, taxes, and housing bills. Most people do it by signing papers and wasting time in queues. Most companies have to keep paper copies of their official reports and electronic transactions.

25.02.2014 13:30 / Anna Kuznetsova

New listing rules will boost transparency, strengthen corporate governance Moscow Exchange is currently reforming its listing rules, a process that will strengthen the market for both issuers of stocks and bonds, while providing domestic investors with an opportunity to diversify their investment portfolios.

28.01.2014 15:10 / Ksenia Yudaeva

Reserve Currencies and the Role of the Ruble The Bank of Russia policy focus has shifted to inflation targeting, sparking a debate on intervention practice and prompting us to reconsider the prospects of the Ruble as a reserve currency.

14.10.2013 13:35 / Alexei Kuznetsov

Taxes and Russian IFC’s Competitive Edge Taxation should not hinder financial market development. This is the motto of MIFC Taskforce’s Tax Project Group that drafts tax reform proposals.

02.10.2013 12:00 / Sergei Shvetsov

The Regulator Needs to Hear the Market A month has passed since the financial markets megaregulator was established. We have solved the key task for the transitional period of FFMS-Bank of Russia merger — maintaining continuity of service, essential for the functioning of the market. We have now initiated systematic analysis of current affairs — from the regulation, control and oversight perspective — in each financial market segment.

11.09.2013 13:45 / Alexander Voloshin

Reforms that benefit the market More than three years have elapsed since Moscow International Financial Center Taskforce was established. We have managed to achieve various degrees of progress in all key performance areas of Moscow’s development as an international financial center.

11.09.2013 12:15 / Igor Jurgens

Self-regulation is balancing rights and responsibility The adopted financial market self-regulation law and the implementation of related practices is an evolutionary step for production forces, to borrow a scientific term. From a common perspective, self-regulation is an absolute must, with the increasing importance of roles played by civil society and the business community. The pendulum has swung from unchecked democracy of the early 90’s to equal partnership of the 00’s to state supremacy. The pendulum must be kept on track: the state is unfit to handle all regulatory functions without considering the interests and healthy intentions of the business community.

11.09.2013 11:59 / Oleg Vyugin

On megaregulator priorities The key starting objective for the new regulator is to reconsider the paradigm of financial regulation based on the prospective advantages of the ongoing megaregulator project. We must aim to minimize the negative impact of structural overhaul of the regulation system.

11.09.2013 11:45 / Alexey Timofeev

The market anticipates Central Bank’s attention to business specifics The establishment of a Central Bank-based megaregulator is a pivotal change in the entire financial market regulation and oversight system. The reform is one of the key phases of system development. An outstanding contribution to the financial market has been made by the Central Bank predecessors – FFMS, FCSM, Minfin, the Russian Insurance Supervision Service and the Labor Ministry, and it would be inappropriate to call the new reform a clean-up of their failed attempts. Using failures as a pretext to delegate financial market regulation functions means going back to square one, a way to justify any regulatory measures that would appear an improvement by mere contrast. This is misleading, since the financial market that has taken shape in Russia is far from its nascent stage.