Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange information and trivia

Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange

Russia's biggest stock exchange

The RF Central Bank, leading commercial banks, the Government of Moscow and the Association of Russian Banks established, on 9 January, 1992 an independent joint stock company "Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange" (registered at Moscow Registration Chamber. The main aim of the Exchange was organizing inter-bank trading in currency and other financial instruments.

The Exchange's authorized capital was just 249 million rubles, including 1,569 million US dollars. The Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange became Russia's main floor where banks and enterprises carried out their transactions in foreign exchange.

Beginning from 1 July, 1992, the RF CB began to use the exchange rate of the ruble, set at the MICEX, to set the official exchange rate of the ruble against foreign currencies. In 1992 The MICEX won the tender for the right to organize an exchange infrastructure for government securities and began to prepare trading in GKOs.

.MICEX is the Russian model of a natiowide system of currency, quity, and derivatives trading in Moscow and in Russia's seven regional exchanges in St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, and Vladivostok. MICEX established in 92 to handle currency transactions from former Gosbank of the USSR.

MICEX's electronic trading and depository system links 2000 remote work stations installed in banks and other financial institutions in 40 cities in Russia and abroad to the exchange. More than 160 broker systems are connected to the MICEX trading system serving clients via the Internet; about 70 % of securities transactions are conducted through Internet connections. MICEX operates four separate divisions. Its principal market, currencies, trades on SELT, the MICEX system of electronic lot trading. MICEX trades, the USA dollar, Euro and other foreign currencies, and conducts inter-regional forex trading. The exchange operates the nationwide system for government securities, including the Russian T-bill (GKO) and bonds from the Bank of Russia, and sub federal and municipal bonds. Equities trading accounts for 80 % of total Russian exchange turnover. Cash settled futures on the USA dollar and Euro are traded on MICEX's derivatives section. Seven regional exchanges are linked to the MICEX settlement, clearing and depository system, which provides services for some 1500 organizations / participants of the exchange market.

It is an independent close joint - stock company with ownership spread among the major Russian commercial banks and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The Central Banks owns 6 %, while less than 0.5 % held by the Association of Russian Banks, the Government of Moscow, and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. With some evenly split among 30 Russian and CIS banks.

The websitew of stock exchnage is http://www.micex.com/ with information on the Equity & Bond Market Currency Market Government Securities &
Money Market Derivatives Market Commodity Market and the opening eras, so one can watch the clock tick tock.

The russian website is http://www.micex.ru

Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange
Address: 13, Bolshoy Kislovskiy, Moscow 125009, Russia
Phone: (+7 095) 234-48-11
Fax: (+7 095) 705-96-22
E-mail: info@micex.com

From 1989 - 90 in the context of the country's decentralized foreign economic activity it became clear the existing exchange rate of the ruble, set by the USSR State Bank, exceeded by far the what would be the spontaneously created market exchange rate. The official exchange rate did not reflect the purchasing power parity, hampering the development of foreign economic relations and deforming the structural proportions of the country's economy. Vnesheconombank of the USSR began to conduct, under the Government's control, currency auctions, where, for the first time, the market exchange rate of the ruble to the US dollars began to form.

The Center for Inter-bank Currency Transactions (Currency Exchange) was formed within the State Bank of the USSR, where about 25 largest banks sold and bought foreign currency. A unified market exchange rate of the ruble for cashless transactions of banks was set at weekly trading. By the end of 1991, it became the main reference point used by the RF Central Bank to set the official exchange rate of the ruble. The Currency Exchange's rules of inter bank trading became part of the country's foreign exchange legislation. In 1992 this lead to the development of MICEX as stated at the top of the page.

Key dates in 1992

Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange founded. January 14

The first US dollar exchange trading executed. May 21

Saint Petersburg Currency Exchange founded. July 3

Year FX market Section's participants and volume of operations
1992 2 790
1993 12 627
1994 23 564
1995 23 518
1996 5 020
1997 5 224
1998 30 550
1999 68 297
2000 124 027
2001 71 172
2002 63 178
2003 142 878
2004 347 450
2005 587 536

Annual trading volume in US dollars for Russian roubles (Million USD)

Year Number of FX market Section's participants (on 1 Jan)
1993 77
1994 137
1995 179
1996 210
1997 207
1998 200
1999 322
2000 363
2001 374
2002 445
2003 495
2004 506
2005 534
2006 536

Trivia
Moscow (Moskva) is the capital of Russia and the country's principal political, economic, financial, educational and transportation center, located on the river Moskva. The city constitutes about 7% of the Russian population or 10.4 million permanent inhabitants within the city boundaries and is the most populous city in Europe.

Changes in Moscow population :

1400: 40.000 1638: 200.000 1710: 160.000 1725: 145.000 1738: 138.400 1775: 161.000 1785: 188.700 1811: 270.200 1813: 215.000 1825: 241.500 1840: 349.100 1856: 368.800 1868: 416.400 1871: 601.969 1888: 753.459 1897: 1.038.600 1912: 1.617.157 1920: 1.027.300 1926: 2.101.200 1939: 4.609.200 1959: 6.133.100 1979: 8.142.200 1989: 8.972.300 2002: 10.383.000

A German website advertised a sock exchange for discoursing on soccer.

Names in each nation for Moscow

Moskau = Germany

Moskva = Danish, Sweden

Moscu = Spain

Moscou = France

Moskva = Dutch

Moskova = Turkey

Moskwa = Poland

Links on websites on subject

http://www.ise.ie/index.asp The home page of Irish stock exchange

http://www.nasdaq.com/ The homepage of the stock exchange