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Showing posts with the label Cifra Broker

Compensation from broker for Russian CFD (contract for difference)

The UK Financial Ombudsman has ordered Interactive Brokers (IB) to compensate an investor that invested in a Russian CFD (contract for difference). In this case the CFD was for 10.000 Sberbank ordinary shares. Interactive Brokers refused to close the position because they could not trade the underlying Sberbank shares Interactive Brokers had bought to cover the CFD contract. From March 2022 onwards, IB raised the margin required for the position to 100%. By August 2024 the interest alone charged on the position had amounted to around USD $12,000.  The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) introduced a margin close-out rule in 2018 that states that CFD providers have to close positions once the net asset value in the investor's account drops to 50% of the required margin. The Financial Ombudsman ruled that Interactive Brokers was required to stop charging interest and other charges on the CFD position once they had to close the position on the basis of the ESMA 50% margin...
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Update on Cifra's fees - fees have been lowered

We earlier reported on the fees Cifra started charging for holding securities in type C accounts. This led to many parties raising the issue of high fees with Cifra broker. Various investors already noticed that the 0.25% monthly fee was not applied by Cifra in January 2026. Cifra published the new fee schedule on its website yesterday. In the new fee schedule the 0.25% monthly fee for holding securities via type C accounts via NSD has been amended to a monthly fee of 0,0015%. The new lower fee is applied retroactively from the 1st of January 2026. The new fee schedule can be found here: https://cifra-broker.ru/about/company/news/ooo-tsifra-broker-obnovilo-reglamentiruyushchie-obsluzhivanie-klientov-dokumenty-57362/
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Update fees Cifra Broker

Further to our last post, we would like to note that Cifra has published a new fee schedule that will enter into force on the 15th of January 2026. In that fee schedule a fee has been added for holding shares in type C accounts via NSD. This fee is high. It is set at 0.25% of the holdings in the type C account per month (see point 2.1.3. in the new fee schedule). The new fee document can be accessed via this website: https://cifra-broker.ru/about/company/news/ooo-tsifra-broker-obnovilo-reglamentiruyushchie-obsluzhivanie-klientov-dokumenty-57044/ Unfortunately, it is our understanding that other Russian brokers also started charging similar fees to hold funds via type C accounts. Investors may consider opening accounts in the share registers to see if holding via the share register may be more cost effective for investors. In the mean time we aim to discuss the new fee structure with Cifra Broker.
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Fees of Cifra Broker and how to pay for them

Many western investors in Russia use Cifra Broker as their brokerage firm.  Cifra has recently updated their fees. Investors that hold shares via a type C account may have noticed an additional fee being charged recently. This is due to the updated fee schedule by Cifra Broker. This fee does not display in the 'cash movements' in the Cifra App, but can be viewed via brokerage reports. In addition the fee can be seen on the Russian tax tickets that are sent to your email address after paying for the fee.  The fee that Cifra charged is 0.25% of the value of the type C account. If the shares are not traded and no trading price can be established then 0.25% will be charged over the nominal value. The fee is a holding fee for holding shares by Cifra directly in the share registry of the various Russian issuers.  Some may remember that Decree 840 of the President of the Russian Federation mandated that Russian brokers - that would normally hold their shares via the Russian cent...
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