Securities commission to ban write-off of foreign issuers’ securities from depository from 2025

The National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine on Monday decided to ban the withdrawal of foreign issuers' securities from the depository accounting system for the duration of martial law from January 1, 2025, the department's press release says.

"Thus, the commission fulfills the requirements of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies of the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF). These changes have been agreed upon by the National Bank of Ukraine in order to harmonize national currency legislation," it says.

It is specified that starting from next year, the write-off of securities of foreign issuers from the depository accounting system will be prohibited, with the exception of cases of corporate transactions of the issuer and bringing the number of securities in the accounts of the Central Depository in line with the data of international depository institutions.

"Over the course of eight months, the commission held numerous meetings as part of the negotiation process with the IMF and the NBU to find a satisfactory solution for the capital markets. We put in a lot of effort, and today's decision was a compromise, since the issue of a complete ban on the admission and trading of securities of foreign issuers in Ukraine was on the agenda," Irakli Baramia, a member of the commission, commented on the introduction of the ban.

As of the end of 2022, the National Depository serviced the securities of 58 foreign issuers.