On 13 March 2018, Moscow Exchange opened the market by holding a Ring the Bell for Gender Equality ceremony in support of gender equality and the empowerment of women in business, politics and the economy. This is a global initiative undertaken for the 4th year in honor of International Women’s Day. This year, 61 stock exchanges around the world participated.
Bella Zlatkis, a member of the Supervisory Board at MOEX and Deputy Chairman of the Management Board at Sberbank, rang the opening bell marking the start of the ceremony. Participants included women who are senior executives at some of Russia’s largest companies – including X5 Retail Group, Sibur, Uralkali, Sistema, M.Video and IBS – as well as representatives of finance firms Goldman Sachs, Citibank, UCP, Sberbank CIB, VTB Capital, Aton, Rosbank, Renaissance Capital and Alfa Asset Management, as well as founders of ВioFoodLab, Global Rus Trade and AnderSon attended the event.
Anna Kuznetsova, Managing Director of the Equities and Bond Market, said:
"Today, as part of the global initiative, we bring together women who are executives at leading public companies and representatives of small and medium enterprises, in order to highlight empowerment of women in Russian business. Moscow Exchange aims to promote high standards of corporate governance and sustainable development among issuers. Achieving equal opportunities for all employees is a key principle of these standards. Moscow Exchange has a diverse team with women making up 44% of the total staff and 40% of senior management."
The Ring the Bell for Gender Equality initiative brings together female business leaders, investors and government officials across the globe. The event is a partnership between Women in ETFs, UN Global Compact, UN Women, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, IFC and the World Federation of Stock Exchanges. The purpose is to advance gender equality and sustainable development by encouraging businesses to make commitments to improve gender equality in their markets.
