RUSSIA: MOEX to Establish Sustainability Sector with Support from Russian Ministry of Economic Development

Tuesday August 13 2019

On 13^th August 2019, the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) published that the updates to the Moscow Exchange Listing Rules (with effect from 12 August 2019), will create a Sustainability Sector for financing projects in the fields of environmental and social sustainability.

The new sector will consist of three independent segments: green bonds, social bonds and national projects.

The segments for green and social bonds are for Russian and international securities that meet requirements for a bond issue, issuer and investment project as set forth in the Green Bond Principles of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) or the standards of the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI).

Whether a bond meets these requirements requires confirmation from an external review provider. This corresponds with the concept currently developed for green, social and sustainability bonds by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, relevant government agencies, the Bank of Russia and business community. The concept will provide tax incentives for issuers and financial support from the Bank of Russia for investors (including provisioning benefits).

The segment for national projects will include Russian and international bonds that meet the objectives of national projects such as “Environment”, “Demography” and “Public Health”, and federal initiatives including “The Adoption of Best Available Technologies”, provided that a government agency or government official and inter-agency commissions have also confirmed the bond program’s compliance with one of the projects set out in the Listing Rules.

Click on the above link for further information.