MOEX Rings the Bell for Gender Equality

On 5 March 2020, Moscow Exchange opened the trading day by holding a Ring the Bell for Gender Equality ceremony in support of gender equality and the empowerment of women in business, politics and the economy.

This is a global initiative undertaken for the 6th year in honour of International Women’s Day. This year, 75 stock exchanges around the world participated.

Participants in the ceremony included the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden to the Russian Federation Malena Mard and female leaders from the largest companies and banks, such as Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board Olga Dergunova, Citibank Chairwoman and President Maria Ivanova, Otkritie FС Bank Management Board member Nadia Cherkasova, IBS CEO Svetlana Balanova, Promsvyazbank Deputy Chairman Yuliya Karpova, Dean for Coordination and Development Moscow School of Management Skolkovo Svetlana Mironyuk, MOEX Independent Director Maria Gordon and many other guests.

Yury Denisov, CEO of Moscow Exchange, said:
"Moscow Exchange is participating in the Ring the Bell global initiative for the third year in a row to draw public attention to the importance of gender equality and encourage businesses to promote sustainable development goals by advancing women’s rights. We are making great efforts to implement sustainable development and responsible investment principles in Russia, such as transmitting special indices calculated together with Russian Chamber of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and supporting actively developing Sustainability Sector. We are delighted to see over 50 companies taking part in the ceremony and realise that Russian corporates recognise the significance of sustainable development practices in fighting for investors who place a greater focus on ESG factors in making their investment decisions."

The Ring the Bell for Gender Equality initiative brings together female business leaders, investors and government officials across the globe. The event is a partnership between Women in ETFs, UN Global Compact, UN Women, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, IFC and the World Federation of Stock Exchanges.

The purpose is to advance gender equality and sustainable development by encouraging businesses to make commitments to improve gender equality in their markets.