OREANDA-NEWS. On 19 August 2008 MICEX Group, the largest integrated exchange in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, announced the results of its trading activities for the first six months of 2008.

Key highlights:

The total volume of exchange-based trading on all markets of the MICEX Group amounted to RUR 58.86 trillion (USD 2.46 trillion), up 58% on the comparable period in 2007.

The average daily volume of exchange-based trading on the MICEX Group’s markets grew to RUR 494.6 billion (USD 20.51 billion); nominal volume of bonds outstanding grew by 11% to over RUR 2.9 trillion.

Liquidity on the MICEX Stock Exchange (MICEX SE) continued to grow, with the total transaction volume reaching RUR 27.15 trillion, up 52% from the comparable period in 2007. This growth was primarily driven by a two-fold increase in repo transactions.

The volume of primary and secondary transactions on MICEX SE grew by 4% and 2%, respectively, a significant achievement given the current challenges facing global financial markets. The contribution of MICEX SE to the total turnover of the Group amounted to 46.1% for the period. MICEX SE continues to be the centre of liquidity for Russian assets and the main route for international investment in leading Russian companies.

Investor interest in shares of investment funds continued to grow, with the related sales volumes reaching RUR 15 billion (USD 630 million), up 56% on the comparable period last year. Shares of 281 funds managed by 94 management companies are currently traded on MICEX SE.

The MICEX Group’s impressive results in the first half of 2008 were driven by the rapid development across all sectors of the exchange-based markets: the non-government (corporate and regional) bonds market grew by 39%, the currency market grew by 52%, the government securities market and the money market doubled, and the derivatives market saw volumes increase 2.5 times.

Operational highlights:

Launch of the new centralised clearing and settlement system, the National Clearing Center (NCC), in December 2007. The NCC, a subsidiary of the Group, became the first counterparty in Russia to provide centralised clearing facilities to trading participants. During the six months to 1 July 2008, the assets held at the NCC have increased to RUR 865.4 million, which includes RUR 700 million of authorised capital. The number of participants using the services of NCC has reached 473.

The authorised capital of the NCC was further increased to RUR 1.74 billion, following the registration of additional shares by Bank of Russia in early July 2008.

In March 2008, the MICEX SE launched Russia’s exchange bond market – a new instrument for Russia whereby bonds are registered by the exchange rather than the Federal Financial Markets Service (FSFR), Russia’s financial regulator. RBC Information Systems and Avtovaz, Razgulyai Group were the first issuers under this scheme.

In April 2008, the National Merchantile Exchange (NAMEX), part of MICEX Group, launched trading in delivery futures on wheat. During the three months since launch, the turnover of corn futures amounted to RUR 5.2 billion or approximately 900,000 metric tons of corn.

In June 2008, MICEX became an associated member of the Futures Industry Association (FIA).

The future priorities for the MICEX Group:

Implementation of RMS, a new risk management system for the futures market which aims to reduce participants’ transaction cost whilst maintaining the strict risk controls. The system was acquired from Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Development of new instruments for the futures market, such as physical delivery futures on medium- and long-term government bonds, and USD currency futures with T+1 cash settlement.