Moscow Exchange and DOM.RF enter a memorandum to promote the mortgage-backed bond market

On 4 June 2021, Moscow Exchange and DOM.RF entered into a memorandum of cooperation in the development of the market for mortgage-backed bonds guaranteed by DOM.RF.

The official signing ceremony took place at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) and was attended by Moscow Exchange CEO Yury Denisov and DOM.RF General Director Vitaly Mutko.

DOM.RF and Moscow Exchange have been actively working to develop the mortgage bond market since 2019. During this period, mortgage-backed securities became available for repo with the Federal Treasury; terms of repo in mortgage bonds were significantly improved; the first on-exchange pricing convention for mortgage-backed securities in the Russian market was jointly developed; a separate section on mortgage-backed securities was created on the Moscow Exchange website; and an annual forum on mortgage bonds of DOM.RF was established.

The Memorandum will further improve the exchange and trading infrastructure of the DOM.RF mortgage bonds market, which will help increase market liquidity and expand the investor base. The agreement provides for joint efforts to improve trading and repo conditions for mortgage bonds and to raise financial literacy of individual investors with respect to mortgage-backed securities. In addition, there are plans to expand the use of mortgage bonds in the MOEX indices.

Yury Denisov, CEO of Moscow Exchange, said:

"Our companies share ambitious goals to make housing more affordable for Russians. This requires joint efforts to develop financial market infrastructure and create favorable conditions for the establishment of an efficient mortgage bond market, ensuring sustainable growth of mortgage lending and involvement of various categories of investors in this market. Moscow Exchange will contribute to an increase in the liquidity of mortgage bonds and improvement of their placement techniques."

Vitaly Mutko, General Director of DOM.RF, said:

"One of DOM.RF's key objectives is to create a new savings instrument for all classes of investors alongside a capacious and liquid market. To do this, we need to make mortgage bonds convenient and attractive for investors so that they are easy to buy and sell, enabling individuals and pension funds to invest their savings in reliable instruments and helping the housing mortgage lending industry to attract market resources. Moscow Exchange is the main platform for attracting capital to the national economy and, in this regard, acts as our most important strategic partner in developing the mortgage bond market.

Joint-stock company DOM.RF is a financial development institution in the housing sector. It was established in 1997 by the Russian Government in order to facilitate the implementation of the state housing policy. The main objectives of DOM.RF are: attracting investment, improving the quality and affordability of housing through the development and implementation of federal standards, for the profitable purchase of housing with mortgages.

Moscow 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.