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...

Voluntary conversion of Okey group ADRs

We can now confirm that it is possible to successfully convert Okey group ADRs bought on the AIX into the underlying ordinary shares via voluntary conversion. Okey group, which is the owner of the "Da!" discount supermarkets in Russia, is planning to undergo redomiciliation from Luxembourg to Russia. 

The ADRs of the Okey group are traded on the Moscow exchange (39.24 Rubles at the time of writing, which is about 0.50 USD) and on the Astana International Exchange (AIX) (current share price 0.30 USD). The ADRs are also traded over-the-counter (OTC). 

After conversion of the ADRs you will receive a share certificate and you will be entered into the shareholder register in Luxembourg as a direct shareholder.

Upon redomiciliation of Okey group to Russia your ordinary shares will be automatically transferred to the Russian shareholder register. 

In our test run the process took various months to complete, but new cases may be quicker now that the process has been tested. Please be advised that RCS Issuer requires payment of previously unpaid depositary fees (even if you were not a shareholder at the registration date for the depositary fees) in addition to the normal conversion fees. These previous depositary fees currently amount to 0.04 EUR per ADR and will be 0.06 EUR per ADR from the 9th of March 2026. This means that investors will incur serious conversion costs compared to the current share price on the AIX.