Russia Hits 1st Base in Move to Become Global Financial Hub – Welcomes First Foreign Bank to Trade FX

The former Soviet Union has been paving its way to economic glory and positioning itself as a financial centre for the CIS region. Russia, part of the up and coming BRICS is one of the largest global economies. The 140 million plus populated nation has granted, BPS-Sberbank of Belarus authority to trade in Russia’s thriving FX markets. The move highlights the massive growth opportunities for Russia to be a leading financial centre for its neighbouring countries.

According to Belarus’s state news agency and confirmation on the BPS-Sberbank website that it is a member of MICEX FX trading, the Belarusian bank is the first foreign bank to gain access to Russia’s FX market. Russia shares a special economic relations with Belarus under The Eurasian Economic Commission, the main objective is to provide the ECE conditions of functioning and development of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, as well as the development of proposals for the further development of integration.

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“We hope that our participation in the FX Market of Moscow Exchange will give an additional impetus to trading the Belarusian ruble in Moscow and raising its share in the total volume of trades,” said the Deputy Chairperson of the Board of BPS-Sberbank Alla Dubenetskaya.

The Rouble is fast becoming a significant currency pair in international trade as Russia extends its trading partners. The rouble trades both in Russia and offshore in London, the worlds financial capital. London has been the destination of choice for Russian firms looking to go public as it offers improved listing conditions and greater liquidity, London leads Russia in regards to the volume in Russian equities.

The merger between MICEX & RTS, the country’s two exchanges, boosted the duet to join the ten largest global exchanges, daily trade volume on MICEX is around $15 billion in equities and indices.

Investors can trade a variety of securities and derivatives on Moscow exchange. Currency futures are popular exchange traded products, the bourse offers 7 currency pairs including; USD/RUB, EUR/RUB, EUR/USD, CNY/RUB, UAH/RUB, BYR/RUB and KZT/RUB. The daily average trade volume in FX on MICEX is $12 billion.

The Russian Rouble is currently trading at 30.26 against the greenback, the USD/RUB spreads are around 5 pips as quoted on Tradenext’s iTrader platform.

BPS-Sberbank entrance to the Russian FX market is a positive sign as Russia aims to develop Moscow’s reliance on Rouble trades.

MICEX is planning an IPO worth around $500 million.