The first trader went to court – Kommersant FM
[ad_1]
The first private investor filed a lawsuit over the blocking of assets against the St. Petersburg Exchange. After the site fell under US sanctions, trading in foreign securities was stopped. RBC reports that this did not suit Russian Konstantin Smirnov from the Novosibirsk region. He noted that the exchange regulations do not provide for restrictions on trading due to sanctions. In addition, the investor complained about “the information vacuum into which the St. Petersburg Exchange plunged traders.”
As a result, Mr. Smirnov expects compensation in the amount of 571 thousand rubles. The lawsuit was filed not only against the site, but also against the broker – the BCS company. Does the investor have a chance of success? BCS told Kommersant FM that they consider the demands to be unfounded, and the claim will probably be rejected. Pen & Paper partner Kira Vinokurova agrees:
“It is not clear what exactly the requirements are. We only know the amount. Therefore, it is difficult to predict anything with such a meager set of information. The only parallel that can be drawn is the reaction of Russian courts to claims against participants in the financial infrastructure. For example, to NSD or to one of the banks due to the fact that funds were blocked due to the imposition of sanctions. Such demands were not met. That is, the court sometimes creatively set everything aside, and investors’ commission losses were not compensated.
I think some general approach will remain, because these situations mainly arise due to the imposition of sanctions against the St. Petersburg Exchange or bank, or NSD. And no matter how much market participants prepare for such a development of events, it is impossible to fully calculate everything. And, unfortunately, the consequences directly affect investors’ portfolios, but there are no tools yet to avoid this.”
First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Vladimir Chistyukhin said that neither the Central Bank nor the St. Petersburg Exchange “can reach foreign securities.” The regulator did not see any prospects for unlocking. The general director of the exchange, Evgeny Serdyukov, however, said that the company will challenge the sanctions and also intends to return investors’ assets in full.
The decree of the US Ministry of Finance allows any counterparties to make transactions with the platform until January 31, 2023. Partner at the law firm Lidings Stepan Guzey believes that against this background, there may be more claims against the organization: “Investors, taught by experience how to protect their rights, can file class actions.
Whether this will be effective will be determined by the court decision. Of course, claims can be filed in groups of 20 or 30 people. As for the prospects in the Russian court, the chances of a positive development of events for a private investor are average and above average.”
The St. Petersburg Exchange itself has not yet commented on the lawsuit. Previously, they said that 70% of client money in foreign currency was frozen. In addition to challenging the sanctions in court, the exchange may have another way to return investors’ money. As RBC reported, the company plans to use the mechanism for exchanging blocked assets. True, it has not yet been officially launched.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
[ad_2]
Source link