MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia has established a procedure for automatic conversion of depositary receipts of quasi-Russian companies if they achieve the status of an international company registered under Russian jurisdiction, the regulator said in a statement.
The 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," the Central Bank said.
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.
Moreover, the Bank of Russia has extended until December 31, 2023 the moratorium on lowering the listing level of securities of quasi-Russian companies if they fail to comply with corporate governance requirements, which is expected to give issuers more time to bring their corporate governance practices into compliance with regulatory requirements and listing rules of the Moscow Exchange, according to the statement.