Micex, the Russian exchange group that has launched a charm offensive in the west, reports a decent increase in currency activity in January 2008. The exchange says that it recorded 421 trades in US dollar futures in the month with a value of R266.3 billion ($10.8 billion). Average daily volume ran at R15.7 billion ($637 million), which was almost twice as much as in January 2007.
Micex says that around 20% of its volumes come from subsidiaries of multinational banks. Leading players include UniCredit, Raiffeisen Bank and Citi.