Optimising issuers’ reporting: Bank of Russia proposals

First of all, the Bank of Russia proposes to avoid duplication of information. Now, issuers are required to publish reports on their activities twice a year, namely at the end of the 6-month and 12-month periods. These documents contain recurring sections that do not require regular updates, e.g. a section about corporate governance. It is advisable to disclose such information in an annual report, which is a key tool of communication with investors. Furthermore, the regulator deems it necessary to standardise this document by introducing mandatory sections that issuers may structure at their own discretion. Currently, there are no strict requirements for its content. The only requirement is to publish these reports.

The Bank of Russia also suggests removing the time gap between the publication of an issuer’s consolidated financial statements and the publication of its report detailing the reasons for reported results. According to the regulator, these documents should be disclosed simultaneously to ensure that the market receives up-to-date information about a company’s performance.

One of the key initiatives involves transitioning from manual preparation of reports to electronic formats. The use of machine-readable formats will reduce the time for processing and analysing data, which will allow investors to make investment decisions based on high-quality information.

The discussion of the Bank of Russia’s initiatives will continue through 1 August 2025.