Russian listing rules look too onerous

A compulsory minimum free float for banks listing in Russia is illogical, hard to police and might not be in investors’ best interests.

Russia’s central bank is to encourage the country’s financial institutions to contemplate IPOs. It has unveiled proposals aimed first at boosting their capitalization and then persuading them to list their stock – presumably on a domestic exchange. That, certainly, is what the Russian financial regulator, the Federal Financial Markets Service, is advocating for all companies that are contemplating a listing.

Among the measures outlined is a proposal that the central bank should allow small stakes of less than 1% to be traded freely – without its permission.

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