OREANDA-NEWS. The Moscow Exchange will begin a move from T0 to T+1 settlement cycle for Russian federal government bonds known as OFZs from 23 March 2015.

Migration to the new settlement cycle is to be completed on 27 April.

Settlement of trades in OFZs on T+1 will allow market participants to reduce the cost of funding operations on the sovereign debt market and will increase trading volumes due to the absence of full prefunding requirement. It will also facilitate market making, thus boosting OFZ market liquidity. The switch to T+1 settlement is being carried out as recommended by the Fixed Income Committee.

So, from 23 March to 27 April, OFZs will trade in the T+1 and T0 central order books. After 27 April, T0 settlement will be allowed for negotiated trades only.

Moscow Exchange migrated to the T+ trading regimes in September 2013, removing the need for full prefunding and deferred settlement for stocks, RDRs and mutual funds. This improvement made the Russian securities market more attractive to international participants and allowed global banks to provide direct market access to Russia for their clients.