MOEX joins United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative to deepen ESG commitment

Moscow Exchange (MOEX) announced today it has become the latest Partner Exchange of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative, joining other securities exchanges in a commitment to elevating sustainability practices.

The SSE works with stock exchanges through technical assistance, consensus building and research to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to stimulate investment for a sustainable future. Exchanges around the world partner with the SSE to work towards a common objective of fostering financial markets that support the growth of sustainable and responsible business practices.

Alexander Afanasiev, Chief Executive Officer of Moscow Exchange, said:

"We’re delighted to join a global community of securities exchanges committed to creating more sustainable capital markets and a more sustainable world. At Moscow Exchange, we see our role as a facilitator of long-term economic growth, given we operate Russia’s main platform for raising financing – both for the country’s largest corporations and rapidly emerging small- and medium-sized enterprises. Through our reformed Listing Rules, we have significantly raised the bar for Russian business in terms of corporate governance disclosure and performance. And we are increasingly focused on how we can contribute to environmental sustainability; Russia’s first green bond began trading on our fixed income platform earlier this year and we are planning to introduce a Sustainability Sector on our Fixed Income Market that will host green and social bonds later this year. I am confident our membership in the SSE initiative will open new opportunities to deepen our commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices both for MOEX and for the Russian market as a whole."

James Zhan, Director of Investment and Enterprise at UNCTAD and Chair of the SSE's Board of Directors, said:

"The SSE provides stock exchanges with a unique support platform in which technical assistance, education and shared-learning help exchanges to build capital markets that better align with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are pleased to announce that with the joining of the Moscow Exchange we now have more than 85 stock exchanges around the world partnering with this initiative and contributing to the achievement of the SDGs."

This month, Moscow Exchange participated in the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality initiative for the second year in a row. The key objectives of the initiative are to raise awareness about the business case for women’s economic empowerment and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality and sustainable development.

Also this month, Moscow Exchange announced it will begin publishing a daily calculation of the "Responsibility and Transparency" and "Vector of Sustainability" indexes. At present, 22 companies that lead the way in terms of ESG disclosure are included in the Responsibility and Transparency index. The Vector of Sustainability index includes 15 companies that have demonstrated the best progress in terms of ESG year-on-year.About Moscow ExchangeMoscow Exchange Group operates Russia’s main trading platform for equities, bonds, derivative instruments, currencies, money market instruments and commodities. The Group includes the central securities depository (National Settlement Depository), and a clearing center (National Clearing Centre), performing the functions of central counterparty on the markets, which allows Moscow Exchange to offer its clients the full spectrum of trading and post-trading services. Moscow Exchange was formed in December 2011 as a result of a merger between Russia's two main exchange groups – MICEX Group, the oldest domestic exchange and operator of the leading securities, foreign exchange and money market platform in Russia; and RTS Group, at the time the operator of Russia's leading derivatives market. Moscow Exchange held the initial public offering of its shares in February 2013 (ticker MOEX).About the SSEThe SSE initiative is a UN Partnership Programme organised by UNCTAD, the UN Global Compact, UNEP FI and the PRI. The SSE’s mission is to provide a global platform for exploring how exchanges, in collaboration with investors, companies (issuers), regulators, policymakers and relevant international organizations, can enhance performance on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues and encourage sustainable investment, including the financing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The SSE seeks to achieve this mission through an integrated programme of conducting evidence-based policy analysis, facilitating a network and forum for multi-stakeholder consensus-building, and providing technical assistance and advisory services.