OREANDA-NEWS. The Moscow Exchange listed the first ever exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Russia, the FinEx Tradable Russian Corporate Bonds UCITS ETF.

The admission marked the Russia"s joining the global ETF market that is estimated at USD2 trillion in capitalization.

"The launch of trading in the first ETF is a landmark event for the Russia"s financial infrastructure. Arrival of such products from global markets helps to turn Moscow into the international financial center", said Alexander Afanasiev, Chief Executive Officer of the Moscow Exchange.

Evgeny Kovalishin, President and CEO, FinEx Plus, underscored: "ETFs fit Russia ideally as their basic characteristics, i.e. transparency, efficiency and liquidity, are of principal importance for Russian investors. I should particularly mention the transparency. We are confident that the Russia"s ETF market will evolve successfully and rapidly".

FinEx Tradable Russian Corporate Bonds UCITS ETF

FinEx ETF is a fund on Russian corporate Eurobonds that meets the UCITS IV criteria.

The fund tracks the Barclays EM Tradable Russian Corporate Bond Index, EMRUS, which includes medium-term liquid Eurobonds issued by Russian non-sovereign issuers. The Index was launched in December 2012. By April 17, 2013 it delivered a total net return of 8.04% over the past year and 47.39% from its calculation inception date (June 01, 2009). Bonds of Russian quasi-sovereign and corporate issuers are eligible for the Index. The maximum number of the bonds per issuer is three. Term to maturity of the bonds is from 18 months to five years.

The ETF was registered with the Central Bank of Ireland, listed at the Irish Stock Exchange and cross-listed at the London Stock Exchange as for dollar-denominated stocks.