Moscow Exchange facts for kids
| Moscow Exchange | |
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Quick facts for kids  |
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| Type | Stock exchange, Futures exchange, FX exchange |
| Location | Moscow, Russia |
| Founded | 19 December 2011 |
| Owner | Public company |
| Key people | Yury Denisov (CEO) |
| Currency | Russian ruble |
| No. of listings | 219 |
| MarketCap | US$ $773 billion |
| Indexes | MOEX Russia Index, RTS Index |
The Moscow Exchange (also called MOEX) is the biggest exchange in Russia. An exchange is like a big marketplace where people buy and sell things. MOEX handles trading in many areas, such as company shares, government bonds, and different types of money. It also deals with precious metals like gold.
MOEX also runs Russia's main place for keeping track of securities, called the National Settlement Depository (NSD). It also has the country's largest service for clearing trades, called the National Clearing Centre. The Moscow Exchange was created in 2011 when two older exchanges joined together. By the end of 2023, the total value of trades on MOEX was about $14 trillion!
Contents
History of MOEX
The Moscow Exchange started on December 19, 2011. It was formed by combining two big exchanges from Moscow: the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) and the Russian Trading System. This is why its first name was "Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS." Both of these older exchanges had been around since the 1990s. They were the top exchanges in Russia for about 20 years.
The goal of this merger was to create one strong exchange. This was part of Russia's plan to make Moscow an important global financial center.
In 2013, the Moscow Exchange offered its own shares to the public for the first time. This is called an initial public offering. They raised about US$500 million. Many large investors from around the world wanted to buy shares. In 2014, the Central Bank of Russia, which owned a big part of the exchange, sold some of its shares.
Trading Paused in 2022
On February 24, 2022, the Moscow Exchange stopped all trading. This happened after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. A few days later, foreign clients were not allowed to sell any securities.
On March 4, the exchange was removed from the World Federation of Exchanges. This is a group of exchanges from all over the world.
Trading slowly started again in March 2022. First, they allowed trading in government bonds. Then, some other Russian company shares could be traded, but only by people living in Russia. Foreign investors had very limited options. Also, a type of trading called "short selling" was not allowed. This is when you bet that a stock's price will go down.
The Moscow Exchange was also affected by international rules against Russia. For example, the United Kingdom changed its rules. This meant that shares traded on MOEX no longer received certain tax benefits in the UK.
Who Manages the Exchange?
The Moscow Exchange has a team of leaders who make important decisions. This team is called the Executive Board.
The current CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is Yury Denisov. He has been in this role since 2019. Other key members include Andrey Selyuk, who handles the money as Chief Financial Officer, and Andrey Burilov, who is in charge of technology as Chief Information Officer. There are also leaders for sales and operations.
Who Owns the Moscow Exchange?
The shares of the Moscow Exchange can be bought and sold by anyone. This means it's a public company. Its shares are traded under the ticker symbol MOEX.
As of late 2021, about 63% of the shares were available for anyone to buy. The Central Bank of Russia owned about 11.75% of the shares. Other big owners included large Russian banks like Sberbank and Vnesheconombank. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development also owned a part. Many investors from the US and UK also owned shares in the Moscow Exchange. Plus, about 360,000 regular Russian people owned MOEX shares.
What Can You Trade on MOEX?
The Moscow Exchange has different markets for trading various things.
This market is a key place for Russian companies to get money. It's also where investors, both from Russia and other countries, can buy and sell shares and bonds. Shares are small parts of a company. Bonds are like loans you give to a company or government, and they pay you back with interest.
This market is the main place to trade shares of big Russian companies. These include famous names like Gazprom, Sberbank, and Lukoil. In 2013–2014, many companies used MOEX to sell their shares and bonds, raising a lot of money.
Foreign Money and Cash Market
This market is where different types of money (currencies) are traded. For example, people can trade Russian rubles for US dollars or euros. The Central Bank of Russia uses this market to manage the country's money supply.
All trades on this market are checked and confirmed by the National Clearing Centre. This helps make sure trades are safe and fair. The most traded currency pairs are the Russian ruble with the US dollar and the euro. MOEX also helps people trade rubles with Chinese yuan, British pounds, and Hong Kong dollars.
Derivatives Market
The Derivatives Market is where people trade special financial contracts called "derivatives." These contracts get their value from something else, like a company's share price or a currency's value. Two common types are "options" and "futures."
- Options give you the right to buy or sell something later, but not the obligation.
- Futures are agreements to buy or sell something at a set price on a future date.
MOEX allows trading of futures and options on many things. These include company shares, currency pairs, precious metals, and even energy and farm products. In 2014, the futures contract for the US dollar-Russian ruble was the most traded in the world for its type!
Commodities Markets
MOEX also has markets for trading physical goods, called commodities.
Precious Metals Trading
Since 2013, you can trade gold and silver on MOEX. This is called "spot trading," which means you buy or sell the metal right away for immediate delivery.
Grain Trading
The National Mercantile Exchange, which is part of MOEX, is Russia's main place for trading grain. This includes spot trading and futures contracts for farm products. Since 2002, the Russian government has used this platform to manage the grain market.
Important Services: NSD and NCC
The Moscow Exchange has two very important helper companies: the National Settlement Depository (NSD) and the National Clearing Centre (NCC).
The NSD is like a giant safe for all the securities (like shares and bonds) traded in Russia. It was given the special role of Russia's main securities depository in 2012. This made it easier for international investors to buy and sell Russian securities.
The NCC is Russia's biggest "clearing center." It acts as a middleman for all trades on the Moscow Exchange. This means it makes sure that buyers get what they paid for and sellers get their money. It helps make trading safe and reliable.
After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, both the NSD and NCC faced challenges. Some international groups paused their memberships with these centers.
See also
- Russian Trading System Stock Exchange (merged in 2011)
- Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (merged in 2011)
- Moscow International Business Center, a business area in Moscow
