The Central Bank began to accept documents from management companies for the allocation of frozen assets of mutual funds into separate closed-end funds
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The Central Bank began to accept documents from management companies for the allocation of frozen assets of mutual funds into separate closed-end funds. So far, documents on five funds have been adopted, and 113 mutual funds remain blocked. The low activity of the UK is associated not so much with the preparation of trust management rules (PDU), but with the expectation of easing the requirements of the Central Bank in relation to part of the blocked assets.
Management companies have begun to change the rules of funds with blocked foreign securities, transforming them into specialized closed-end mutual funds (ZPIFs). Kommersant was told about this at the Central Bank. The regulator has already received for registration “changes in the rules of control of five existing mutual funds, which, in accordance with the requirements of Law 319-FZ, change their type to closed-end mutual funds,” the Bank of Russia noted.
In the spring of 2022, due to the blocking of NSD’s accounts with Euroclear and Clearstream (see “Kommersant” dated March 23, 2022) managers have lost the opportunity to make transactions with the assets held in these accounts. As a result, the management companies were forced to suspend operations with such funds. According to the Central Bank, at the end of May 2022, transactions were not carried out on 159 mutual funds with assets of 379 billion rubles. As of June 27, 2023, according to the regulator, there were no transactions with 113 mutual funds with assets of 154 billion rubles.
Last summer, the Central Bank proposed to allocate the unlocked assets of mutual funds into a separate depreciation closed-end mutual fund (ZPIF-A, see “Kommersant” dated June 8, 2022). However, the requirements for the procedure for creating special closed-end mutual funds consisting of blocked foreign securities were published only in February 2023. If the share of such assets in the fund does not exceed 10%, the management companies have the right to allocate them to a closed mutual fund. With a higher share, they are already obliged to either allocate assets to a closed-end mutual investment fund-A, or to transform the fund itself into closed-end mutual fund-A. At the same time, before September 1, managers must not only choose a method for allocating assets, but also send the rules of the new fund for registration with the Central Bank. After the allocation of blocked assets, the shareholder should have shares in liquid mutual funds and shares in closed-end mutual funds with blocked assets, or only shares in closed-end mutual funds. “The mechanism of operation of such closed-end mutual funds assumes that in the event of the release of assets, shareholders will be paid money from the partial redemption of investment shares,” said Nikolay Shvaikovsky, head of the department for interaction with government agencies at Alfa Capital.
A number of companies are working on the PDU of ZPIF-A, including MC Pervaya, Tinkoff-Capital, Ingosstrakh-Investments and TKB Investment Partners, but only Alfa Capital confirmed the fact of filing the rules for registration.
According to Mr. Shvaikovsky, the rules of four funds were submitted, “which are planned to be completely transformed into closed-end mutual funds.” Tinkoff-Capital is considering the issue of separating four exchange-traded mutual funds, which have an average share of blocked foreign assets of 13%, said the company’s CEO Ruslan Muchipov. “We are discussing the allocation of blocked securities into closed-end mutual funds from two open-end mutual funds and the transformation of the IPIF into closed-end mutual funds,” said Alexander Eremeev, director of the investment products department at TKB Investment Partners.
Some of the surveyed companies are waiting for the PDU template that NAUFOR is working on. “Due to the fact that the goals of creating a closed-end mutual investment fund-A are initially defined, the rules of remote control, including the description in the investment declaration of the strategy and criteria for its compliance, can be standardized,” said NAUFOR Vice President Ilya Vanin. The appearance of the template will facilitate the procedure for registering such PDUs for both companies and the Bank of Russia, market participants believe.
However, large management companies have more questions about the requirement of the Central Bank to classify Eurobonds of Russian companies that are subject to replacement, and shares or depositary receipts of quasi-Russian companies (Yandex, TCS, Ozon, HeadHunter, VK, etc.) as foreign assets.
“The allocation of such securities to closed-end mutual funds with mass sale can lead to serious negative consequences both for the owners of investment units and for the market as a whole,” notes the interlocutor of “Kommersant” on the market. According to Oleg Goransky, director of legal affairs at MC Pervaya, it would be more correct to give the MC the right to independently decide on classifying such securities as blocked. “This will help avoid pressure on the prices of these securities, and also allow exchange-traded funds to accurately follow their indices,” he notes.
There remains the question of an acceptable discount when selling blocked assets, the amount of which is not fixed in the concept of the Central Bank. Market participants are in favor of the possible use of data from the NSD price center or an estimate from an independent appraiser. “Otherwise, the risks of future claims from shareholders and the Central Bank are growing for companies,” said the interlocutor of “Kommersant” in a large management company.
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