Depositary receipts of companies relocating to Russia to be automatically converted into shares

This procedure will apply only to securities the rights to which are registered by Russian depositories. Following state registration, within five business days, an international company should notify the holders of the securities register and depositories about the start of converting depositary receipts into shares. After this, accounting institutions will write off the receipts from investors’ accounts and credit international company shares into them. Holders of the receipts, regardless of whether they are residents or non-residents, will not be required to take any further action. The whole process of conversion will take no more than three weeks from the date of notification.

In addition, the Bank of Russia extended until 31 December 2023 the moratorium on lowering the listing level of securities of quasi-Russian companies if they fail to comply with corporate governance requirements. This will give issuers more time to bring their corporate governance practices into compliance with regulatory requirements and listing rules of the Moscow Exchange.