Central Bank of Russia establishes rules for marking securities of issuers with insufficient information disclosure
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) - The Justice Ministry has registered the directive of the Central Bank of Russia on marking securities of companies that disclose information about themselves to an insufficient degree, the CBR said.
Exchanges will be obligated to mark the shares and bonds of issuers that limit the disclosure of information about their activities, as established by this document.
Securities of companies that withhold more information than provided for by resolutions of the Russian government are subject to marking. "Such a mark is intended for institutional and retail investors and indicates that due to a lack of information it is impossible to monitor the company's activities, as well as to assess its financial position," the CBR said.
There is a temporary exception to the rules, namely that shares of issuers included in the list of companies with the right to independently determine the scope of disclosed information, approved by presidential decree No. 903, dated 2023, will not be subject to labeling requirements until October 1, 2026.
An alternative to marking can be the presence of ratings from no fewer than two rating agencies for the issuer, its securities or the guarantor or surety for them, the Central Bank said. I
No labeling would occur in this case according to the document.
Investors will be able to rely on data from the agencies - a symbolic designation of the analysis conclusions, a brief press release or a detailed analytical report. Credit ratings are intended for bonds, while non-credit equity ratings are for shares.
"They will make it possible to partially compensate for the information deficit," the CBR said.
The directive gives exchanges 10 days to label securities of issuers with insufficient disclosure, starting from the moment they become aware of the disclosure limitations or the lack of ratings. Furthermore, the label is removed within the same timeframe if the company resumes disclosure to the required extent or obtains two ratings from rating agencies.
The new rules are expected to come into effect 10 days after publication.
Plans for the Central Bank to approve the corresponding rules became known in the spring of 2024. However, the registration of the document was delayed. It was reported that the reason for this was a discussion about the regulator's authority to implement marking in this way.
