Bond Bank VTB B-1-397 (RU000A10EVW0)

An exchange-traded bond is a corporate issue registered by the exchange itself rather than by the Bank of Russia. The simplified procedure exists so that companies can borrow quickly: registration takes days rather than months and requires no prospectus approval from the regulator. Most Russian corporate debt is placed in this form today.

The form of registration does not change the holder's rights: the same coupons, the same face value, the same order of claims. What differs is the route to market, and the fact that only an issuer whose securities are already admitted to trading may place them.

Many issues come to market through programmes: the company registers framework terms once and then brings out individual series as the need arises. Hence the long designations such as "BO-002R-03" — they describe the programme number and the sequence of the issue within it, not the quality of the bond.

The listing level — first, second or third — shows how strictly the issue meets the exchange's requirements for size, the issuer's track record, disclosure and the presence of a rating. Bonds on the first and second levels are available to every investor; part of the third level and the high-yield segment require qualified investor status or the completion of a broker's test.