On 11 May 2017, AlfaStrakhovanie was admitted to trading on Moscow Exchange (MOEX)’s FX Market and executed its first FX trades.
AlfaStrakhovanie is the first insurance company to gain direct access to on-exchange foreign currency trading.
Igor Marich, MOEX
Igor Marich, Managing Director of the FX and Money Markets at Moscow Exchange, said:
It is a current global trend that large companies and institutional investors obtain direct access to trading venues to improve efficiency and transparency. Insurance companies trading FX on Moscow Exchange will add liquidity to the market; they will also benefit from lower FX transaction costs and reduced financial risks.
Dmitry Susanov, Asset Manager at AlfaStrakhovanie, commented:
AlfaStrakhovanie has become the first insurance company to use the opportunity to operate on Moscow Exchange’s currency market without intermediaries such as brokerage firms and banks. Direct market access allows us to decrease transaction costs and enjoy transparent and convenient processes. The first corporates began trading foreign currency in April 2017; we joined on 11 May 2017 and were the first among insurers.
From 16 January 2017, Russian legal entities not qualified as credit institutions or professional market participants have been eligible to operate on the currency market on the same terms with banks and brokerage firms. Rosneft and Alrosa were the first ever corporates to obtain direct market access (DMA) and trade on Moscow Exchange’s FX Market.
The main benefits of the regulated FX market are transparent information that enables order execution at the best available prices and a central counterparty (NCC Clearing Bank) that guarantees execution of transactions to non-defaulting participants and removes the need for risk assessment and counterparty exposures.