NLMK to file request to continue trading depositary receipts on LSE
MOSCOW. April 19 (Interfax) - NLMK Group plans to file a request to continue trading its depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the company said in a statement.
NLMK's principal owner Vladimir Lisin (according to the company's website as of November 1, 2021) said in early April that the bill to delist Russian companies' depositary receipts from foreign stock exchanges with subsequent conversion into Russian shares infringes on shareholders' rights and leads to the risk of losing their property rights.
"How can this help stabilize the economy? The Economic Development Ministry believes that it will reduce the risk of losing control by buying shares at low prices. Well, if some of the Russian issuers are worried about it now, they have the right to decide to delist themselves, no one is stopping them," Kommersant quoted Lisin as saying. "In the meantime the proposed law provides not for a reduction of risks, but for their growth. The rights of shareholders who believed in Russia and invested in the Russian market for many years, such as those who cannot hold Russian stock directly, are infringed. They have nothing to do with politics, and there is a risk that their property rights will simply be forfeited," Lisin said.
Federal Law N114-FZ "On Amending the Federal Law On Joint Stock Companies and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" published on April 16, provides that circulation of depositary receipts on foreign exchanges will be prohibited 10 days from the date of the law's publication. After the publication, the companies have 5 working days to take "necessary and sufficient" steps to terminate depositary receipt agreements. The same timeframe is provided for the submission of supporting documents to the Bank of Russia.
On Monday, the government published a resolution on the rules for maintaining the listing of depositary receipts of Russian issuers outside Russia. Companies will have five working days - from April 27 up to and including May 5 - to submit applications to the Ministry of Finance with a request to maintain listings.
The decision on maintaining or refusing the listing will be made by a subcommittee of the government commission for monitoring of foreign investments. It will be able to do so not only at the request of the issuers, but also independently in the absence of such an application, the document reads. The decisions shall be made within five working days after the five-day deadline for submission of appeals to the commission.
