Discounts applied upon liquidation of shares (underlying ADRs)

After the liquidation of the Sberbank shares underlying the ADR-program, various investors seem to wonder what the background is of this discount. Decree No. 81 of the President of the Russian Federation dated March 1, 2022, "On Additional Temporary Economic Measures to Ensure the Financial Stability of the Russian Federation" (Decree No. 81; https://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_410578/ ) established a special procedure for the execution of transactions involving securities between residents of the Russian Federation and "persons of foreign states committing unfriendly acts". According to the general rule stipulated by Decree No. 81, transactions involving securities between residents of the Russian Federation and "unfriendly persons" are only possible with the permission of the Government Commission for the Control of Foreign Investment in the Russian Federation (the Government Commission). The minutes of the Government Commission meeting of th...

Fix Price share swap program

Fix Price has announced a share swap program. The share swap allows ADR-holders to swap the ADR's in Fix Price for ordinary shares of the Russian PJSC Fix Price. Fix Price has communicated that the transaction should be considerd economically neutral and that Kazakh holding of Fix Price will remain the majority shareholder in PJSC Fix Price. All information can be found on: https://exchange.fix-price.com/en/. Interested investor are advised to read the memorandum that is published on the website above. 

Unfortunately, investors from countries that are considered unfriendly from a Russian perspective cannot participate in the share swap, unless the investor received permission from the Russian government. This permission can be requested from the Government Commission for Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation (http://government.ru/department/560/) on the basis of article 1(b) of Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 01.03.2022 No. 81 (as amended on 20.05.2024) "On Additional Temporary Economic Measures to Ensure the Financial Stability of the Russian Federation".