Russia’s Moscow Exchange (MOEX) announced on Monday that it will suspend trading in Japanese yen on the currency markets, effective from August 8, 2022. It cited potential risks and difficulties in the Japanese yen settlement behind its decision.
The exchange did not provide any definite timeline for lifting the upcoming restriction, only mentioning that it will take all necessary actions for the subsequent resumption of trading in the Japanese yen.
The restrictions will be applied on both spot and swap instruments of the Japanese yen. Currently, the exchange is providing trading with two Japanese yen pairs, one against the Russian ruble and the other against the US dollar - trading in both of them will be halted in the exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) markets.
Further, the Russian exchange will stop accepting Japanese yen as collateral for transactions on the offered markets.
However, it highlighted that the exchange’s obligations under the previously executed positions, along with positions taken until August 5, will be honored as per the existing rules.
Chaos on MOEX
MOEX, which is the largest stock trading exchange in Russia, performed exceptionally well, adding 5 million retail accounts in January alone until the Russia-Ukraine war jolted its services. It shut all services for almost a month during the initial days of the war to shed the impact of the conflict on the trading markets.
Though the trading demand after the resumption of services is improving month-over-month, it remains significantly lower than the pre-war numbers.
The exchange is yet to reveal its financials for the months after the start of the war. But, in the first quarter of 2022, it generated a net profit of RUB 8.09 billion, which was a yearly increase of 18.5 percent. Its income from fees and commissions jumped 15.1 percent to touch RUB 10.6 billion.
