Market infrastructure
Moscow Exchange, SPB Exchange, the central counterparty, the depository and clearing — who is responsible for what.
12 articles
The trading day: sessions, auctions and why timing mattersPrices at different moments of the day are formed under different rules, and the first minutes behave unlike the rest.
The over-the-counter market: trades without an order bookWhere there is no exchange trading, the price is set by negotiation rather than by the market. Everything else follows from that.
Corporate events: what a holder has to trackDividends, meetings, splits, share issues, put dates and buybacks. Events that happen to a security independently of the market.
Delisting: what happens when a security is removed from tradingThe end of exchange trading does not cancel ownership, but it removes the main thing — the ability to sell at a market price.2 min
The Bank of Russia as market regulator: what it overseesBeyond the policy rate, the regulator sets admission rules, supervises participants and decides what a non-qualified investor may buy.
The market maker: who holds the book when nobody is tradingA participant committed to quoting both sides. Without one, some instruments would have no price at all.
The shareholder register: who records owners and whenThe list of holders on a specific date is what the right to a dividend and to a vote depends on.
Listing levels: what admission to trading meansFormal requirements for an issuer, split into three tiers. Not a quality rating, but not an empty formality either.
Trading modes: why one security has several pricesA single instrument trades in several modes with different settlement rules, and their prices need not agree.
The depository: where your securities actually sitThe entry at the depository is your ownership. Understanding that changes how you assess broker risk.
The central counterparty: why you can trade with a strangerAn organisation that steps between buyer and seller so the trade settles even if one side fails to pay.
Moscow Exchange and SPB Exchange: two venues, two historiesOne grew out of a currency exchange and carries the bulk of turnover; the other specialised in foreign securities. The difference between them became a practical one.