MICEX Group Launches A New Version Of Its Web Site For International Investors

Today, the MICEX has launched the new English version of its web site (www.micex.com), which gives international investors and the MICEX’s foreign partners the latest information on exchange trades and tells about the peculiarities of work in the Russian capital market. The new version of the MICEX’s web site is a new source of information on Russia’s stock market. It contains parts of the MICEX’s corporate web site and provides data for international investors working in Russia’s organized market. According to the MICEX CEO Alexander Potemkin, new English version of the MICEX’s web site will help to raise the transparency of the Russian financial market, which, considering Russia’s growing investment rating, is essential for attracting the attention of international investors.

The new version of the MICEX’s web site integrates the latest achievements in the area of web site design. Information is grouped by menu sections, telling about the MICEX Group’s main services and areas of business (the currency market, the stock market, the derivatives market and the commodity market). The new web site includes old sections, devoted to the work of exchange markets, as well as such new sections as "The Stock Exchange", "The Commodity Market", "Analysis", "For Investors", "Electronic Document Turnover", "Advertising Services" and some others.

Now, English-speaking users have more possibilities to process information both analytically and graphically. The have also received the means to customize the interface and adapt it to their individual needs. The new web site integrates technical means enabling to update the site’s contents within minutes.

The new site can transmit exchange quotations and results of trades. It secures reliable access to the Exchange’s information in the real-time mode. The new site, in particular, contains the following information packages, which are traditional for an exchange’s web site:

• profiles of exchange markets (the currency market, the stock market, the derivatives market and the commodity market);
• the course and the results of trades in currency, stocks, corporate and municipal bonds, government securities and standard contracts (futures);
• the MICEX profile (history, management, technologies, partners, etc.);
• the MICEX Press Center (news releases, publications, announcements, etc.).

Especially important are sections addressed to international investors. These contain reference materials and information on the peculiarities of the Russian legislation regulating the securities market as well as information on the possible participation of non-resident companies in trades on the MICEX. A foreign investor can receive the latest information on exchange markets, choose financial instruments and evaluate the effectiveness and profitability of his portfolio. This information becomes especially important in the context of economic globalization and the growing attractiveness of the Russian stock market for foreign investors.

Brief information:

The Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) is Russia’s leading exchange. It serves as a basis for the nation-wide system of trading in the currency, stock and derivatives markets in Moscow and in Russia's largest financial and industrial centers. Jointly with its partners, forming the MICEX Group, (the MICEX Stock Exchange, the MICEX Settlement House, the National Depository Center, regional exchanges and others) the MICEX provides trading, settlement and clearing as well as depository services for about 1500 organizations-participants in the exchange market. The MICEX is the leading exchange in Russia, the CIS and Eastern Europe in terms of the total trade turnover (in 2004 - 548 billion dollars; the average daily volume of transactions: 2.2 billion dollars). Today, under the aegis of the International Association of Exchanges of the CIS Countries, the MICEX and other CIS exchanges are creating an integrated organized stock market based on the technological potential of national exchanges of the CIS countries.

The MICEX boasts one of the world's most advanced electronic trading and depositary systems. Over 1500 remote workstations are connected to the MICEX via fiber optic communication lines, satellites and other channels. These remote workstations are installed in banks and other financial institutions on 50 Russian cities, including Moscow, Novosibirsk, St.Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok, Nizhni Novgorod, Samara and other cities. Over 270 broker systems are connected to the MICEX trading complex, helping to serve investors vial remote terminals with the help of the Internet-based technologies. About 50% of transactions in securities are carried out via the Internet gateways. The connection of the MICEX to Moscow unit of GL NET, the world’s largest global private network with access to the world’s leading exchanges, enabled over 3.5 thousand large foreign institutional investors, including 500 largest international financial institutions, to trade on the MICEX Stock Exchange.