The Central Bank is considering options for direct access of investors to the exchange

The Central Bank began discussing with brokers the possibility of opening accounts for clients directly on the Moscow Exchange. Market participants are extremely negative about the prospect of being excluded from the chain, emphasizing the difficulty of implementing the initiative, the concentration of risks on the exchange and the reduction in the level of service for clients. However, even if a fundamental decision is made, the exchange will need three to five years to learn how to actually work with individuals, experts believe.

As sources told Kommersant in three brokerage companies, the Central Bank has begun preparing a report that considers the possibility of opening accounts for investors directly on the Moscow Exchange. As a result, Kommersant’s interlocutors explain, the trading platform “will become a competitor to brokers.” The Central Bank confirmed the preparation of a “consultative report on the development of disintermediation (exclusion of intermediaries.— “Kommersant”) in the financial market”. “The Bank of Russia monitors current trends and also discusses them with market participants, including assessing the balance of benefits and costs for the purposes of long-term development of the financial market,” they explained. The Central Bank promises to make a decision “only after a broad discussion of the issue with the trade union community and an assessment of the totality of the consequences.”

The exchange explained that the development of new products and services creates conditions for “discussion by the entire industry of the correct vector for the development of the diversity of business models in the financial market.”

The head of the exchange’s supervisory board, Sergei Shvetsov, spoke more directly at the NAUFOR conference in Yekaterinburg last October: “If we actually form a single space (of the stock market.— “Kommersant”)… where anyone can easily reach, then the original function of the broker, that only through him you can find the best price somewhere… goes away, because aggregators can easily cope with this.” In addition, according to him, “it is quite possible to manage risks centrally through what the central counterparty does.”

Brokers evaluate the idea of ​​a central bank predictably negatively.

One of them notes that “formally, the task of increasing competition is being solved, but so far it is clear that only monopoly exchanges are raising tariffs, while brokers, on the contrary, have reduced commissions to zero.” Another Kommersant source notes that the Moscow Exchange has already taken away “significant income from brokerage companies and banks,” in particular, by achieving the possibility of direct trading for large legal entities.

A huge number of conflicts of interest arise, emphasizes another Kommersant interlocutor at the brokerage company. Including, he explains, the exchange, as the organizer of trading, has insider information and data of all participants and clients. In addition, the Kommersant source adds, the exchange “does not have the competence to serve retail clients, and given the monopolization of services, this can lead to a decrease in competition and a drop in the level of service for the end client.”

According to the managing partner of Enterprise Legal Solutions, Yuri Fedyukin, in no country in the world with a developed legal system where organized exchange trading is conducted, individuals are not directly allowed to participate in them; brokers, investment funds or banks remain trading participants.

“The reason is simple: it is assumed that in order to participate in the auction it is necessary to obtain access, most often in the form of a license, and its loss, which means the inability to carry out the main activity, is a much stronger argument for the bidder to follow the established rules and comply with the law than the risks of penalties or even criminal and civil liability,” explains the lawyer. “It doesn’t and can’t work with individuals,” he emphasizes.

The implementation of the supervisory function is also becoming difficult, Mr. Fedyukin believes: “Since the number of participants in organized trading, in fact, becomes unlimited, it will simply be impossible to determine whether this or that group of participants is acting in concert.” This, according to the lawyer, will make it difficult to monitor compliance with anti-money laundering legislation, not to mention bringing the violator to justice, since an individual “can commit some illegal actions on the stock exchange while in another country, and, in fact, remain unpunished.”

A Kommersant source on the market believes that the idea is being promoted by the Moscow Exchange: “The exchange has already implemented almost all the development that the trading platform could have and is now trying to become a mega-player.” However, in his opinion, even if such a plan is approved, it is impossible to quickly implement it, since “the exchange does not yet know how to work with retail clients.” Kommersant’s interlocutor believes that the full implementation of the project may take three to five years.

Ksenia Kulikova