Bank of Russia to set equal criteria for protection of retail investors in stock market and marketplaces
The threshold for transactions with complex financial instruments in marketplaces without testing will be ₽6 million. It is proposed that it should be increased to ₽12 million from 2025 and to ₽24 million from 2026. It is planned to establish the same threshold for the status of a qualified investor to be granted in accordance with the income qualification. Such approach is specified in the regulator’s draft ordinance.
Since April 2024, clients of financial marketplaces have become obliged to take a test when performing transactions with securities. This provision is to protect inexperienced investors from unjustified losses. However, the law releases investors from the obligation to take the test if the amount of the transaction exceeds the value established by the regulator. The Bank of Russia in turn believes that this amount should be brought in line with the new criteria for the qualified investor and a person should be equally protected when purchasing securities from a professional market participant and in a marketplace. It is supposed that if a client makes a large purchase, such client has a safety cushion and can assume a certain risk.
Moreover, similarly to the purchase of securities through a broker, investors are allowed not to take a test on the simplest financial instruments: shares and depositary receipts that are on quotation lists of Russian stock exchanges, fixed-income OFZs, investment units of open-end, interval or exchange-traded unit investment funds and some others.
The draft ordinance will be discussed from 27 May through 9 June.