MOEX figures out how to surpass U.S. sanctions

The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) can once again offer Russian investors access to 127 foreign stocks. However, the trading will now take place on the over-the-counter (OTC) market, and only qualified investors will be allowed to participate, with all transactions conducted in Russian rubles, according to the RBC news agency.

The breakthrough is credited to the National Clearing Centre (NCC), a subsidiary of MOEX. Thanks to its efforts, investors can once again invest in some of the most popular American stocks — including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, Berkshire Hathaway, Alphabet, NVIDIA and Visa — as well as 19 ETFs from FinEX.

Trading of these securities on MOEX had been blocked since the spring of 2022, after foreign depositories imposed restrictions on accounts held by Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NSD).

All activity is now centralized through MOEX’s OTC platform, which allows clients from multiple brokerage firms to participate in single transactions.

While any investor can sell foreign stocks on the platform, only qualified investors can both buy and sell. All deals will be denominated in rubles.

An OTC (off-exchange) transaction refers to a deal involving financial instruments (such as shares, bonds, or depositary receipts) arranged directly between parties, without mediation from an exchange. In this format, investors can bypass certain MOEX requirements.

In June 2024, the U.S. imposed sanctions on MOEX. At the time, MOEX was the largest shareholder of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), holding 13.1% of shares. In October 2024, MOEX sold its stake in KASE to two Russian management companies — Tetis Capital (8.5%) and Balance Asset Management (4.6%). It remains unclear on whose behalf the companies acted. In Q4 2024, Russian Raiffeisen appeared on the KASE shareholder list as the nominee holder of the same 13.1% stake.