Moscow Exchange doesn’t deny Russian companies leaving foreign trading floors

Due to the revision of tax agreements with some countries, initiated by the Russian government, many organizations may leave foreign trading venues. Anna Vasilenko, Head of the department for cooperation with key customers, assumed this at a seminar at the Moscow Exchange, Forbes reports.

Many organizations don’t deny the option of transferring the company to another jurisdiction after the news about the change in tax legislation. There is a risk that this will be accompanied by delisting from foreign exchanges and the preservation of securities on the Moscow Exchange. According to Anna, the ownership of foreign holdings becomes unprofitable due to the adjustment of agreements on the avoidance of double taxation.

Among the large organizations, whose shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange as foreign, are Yandex, Mail.ru Group, UC Rusal Polymetal and others, RBC specifies. Polymetal representatives said that the organization has no plans to withdraw the securities from trading on the London Stock Exchange. Sberbank’s press service said it wasn’t ready to make a decision on this matter.

Analysts interviewed by RBC have denied Vasilenko’s statement. According to them, there are no objective reasons for delisting, since many companies comply with all the conditions of the legislation, and the increase in taxes will not create additional restrictions for them, said Anna Voronkova, partner of KPMG. Keeping the preferential rate at 5% for large companies will push other organizations to listing on foreign exchanges, said Mikhail Filinov, partner of PwC. According to him, some companies are also considering the option of opening branches in offshore jurisdictions.

In mid-March, President Vladimir Putin announced plans to introduce a 15% tax on the withdrawal of dividends offshore, as well as the need to revise agreements to avoid double taxation.