The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has decided to approve the MICEX as a full member of the Federation. The decision was made on 6 October at the meeting of the General Assembly of the WFE, held in Vancouver. The General Assembly addressed the issue of upgrading the status of the MICEX’s membership in the WFE, the leading association in the exchange industry, comprised of more than 100 exchanges. Before, the MICEX had the status of corresponding member (“correspondent”) of WSE, which it obtained in 2002, then the status of affiliated member (“affiliate”), obtained in 2007.
The MICEX was Russia's first exchange to obtain the status of full member of the WFE. The MICEX’s obtaining the status of full member of the WSE is a generally recognized criterion of quality and reliability of the national market for international investors. The Federation organizes regular interaction among managers of the world’s largest exchanges.
The WSE focuses on developing common principles of the exchange business and harmonizing rules, thus contributing to the expansion of cross-border trade.
The Federation advises exchanges on development strategies and ways to improve business efficiency. It helps young exchanges to establish and expand their business and connect to global financial markets.
The MICEX seeks to expand its international links, cooperating with many largest foreign exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the Deutcshe Borse (DB), the Vienna Stock Exchange (WBAG), the OMX Group, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), the Mongolian Stock Exchange and some others. The MICEX has signed bilateral memoranda of cooperation with a number of foreign exchanges. The MICEX is also a member of the International Association of Exchanges of the CIS countries (IAEx CIS).
At present, by the total volume of trading, the MICEX is the largest exchange in Russia, the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe. The MICEX Stock Exchange is one of the world’s 20 largest stock exchanges by the volume of trading in the share market.The adoption of the MICEX as a full member of the WFE will enhance Russia's status as a financial hub and help to attract more foreign investors to the Russian stock market. It will enable the MICEX to use the best practices of the world's leading exchanges for the development of the Russian financial market.