On 6 March 2006, The MICEX Launches An Additional, Intra-Day, Clearing Session In The Stock Market

The intra-day clearing session will be held for all transactions with settlements in Russian rubles, carried out on the MICEX Stock Exchange, which undergo the coverage control procedure before 15:30 of the trading day. An important principle of intra-day clearing will be the continuity of the trading session.

Clearing and settlements for participants’ net claims and net obligations for cash and securities in the course of the intra-day clearing session will be effected from 15:30 till 16:10, Moscow time. Following the results of an intra-day clearing session, the initial values of participants’ positions in cash and securities will be reduced proportionally to their corresponding net obligations. Accordingly, the initial values of participants’ positions in cash and securities will be increased proportionally to their corresponding net claims. Thus, cash and securities released as a result of an intra-day clearing session will be available for traders in the course of the trading day (after 16:10).

The final clearing session in the MICEX stock market will, as before, be held from 19:15 till 20:10 after the closing of trading on the MICEX Stock Exchange. It will provide clearing for transactions, carried out in the course of the trading day, which undergo the coverage control procedure after 15:30.

The launch of intra-day clearing in the MICEX stock market will considerably facilitate participants’ access to cash and securities released in the course of the trading day as a result of performance of obligations for transactions. It will also improve the management of assets in the MICEX markets as well as in the over-the-counter segment.