FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES
ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2012
BELARUSIAN CURRENCY AND STOCK EXCHANGE
CAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
KEY SOLUTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT ON
THE SECURITIES MARKET DEVELOPMENT
• Tax liberalization for operations in bonds;
• Simplification of bond issue procedure;
• Introduction of on-exchange bonds as a
separate type of bonds;
• Cancellation of the moratorium on free
circulation of stocks;
• Transition to exchange market circulation for
all stocks of open joint-stock companies;
• Municipal bond market formation
BCSE ACTIVITY TODAY
Since the first days of its formation (December
1998), the Belarusian Currency and Stock
Exchange has been participating in the
technological development of the stock market,
improving its regulatory framework and involving
a wide range of financial assets in the exchange
turnover.
Today the BCSE is the only trading floor in the
republic serving as a basis for a nationwide
trade system in all major segments of the
financial market: currency, stock and futures.
Except for the organization of trading, the BCSE
functions as the settlement and clearing system
operator, provides information and depository
services, electronic document services,
registration of OTC transactions in securities.
Currently, the trading floor is widely used
not only by banks and broker and dealer
companies, but also by the government in
performing its essential economic functions,
including:
• privatization transactions carried out by the
State Property Committee;
• establishment of the official exchange rate
of Belarusian ruble to the Russian ruble and
US dollar by the National Bank upon trading
totals in foreign currency;
• transactions in stock market securities
concluded by the National Bank in order to
regulate bank liquidity through direct and
reverse REPO auctions;
• financing state budget deficits by the Ministry
of Finance through primary placement of
government securities at the BCSE.
The instruments traded in the currency
exchange market includes 23 currencies,
including USD, RUB, EUR, UAH, AUD, GBP,
DKK, ISK, CAD, LVL, LTL, NOK, PLN, SEK,
CHF, EEK, JPY. Total annual 2011 volume of the
exchange trades in foreign currencies amounted
to USD 17.0 billion.
Currency futures on the U.S. dollar, Euro,
Russian ruble rates, Euro to U.S. dollar rate
set by the European Central Bank, as well as
futures on the coupon yield of government
securities - are the instruments circulating in the
futures market segment. Annual 2011 volume
of the exchange trades in futures amounted to
USD 8.6 million.
Annual 2011 volume of transactions in securities
of all types amounted to USD 8.7 billion,
including USD 6964.1 million of Government
bonds market volume, USD 1673.7 million of
corporate bonds market volume, and USD 50.4
million of shares market volume.
The range of securities traded at the BCSE
covers government bonds of the Ministry of
Finance, short-term bonds of the National Bank,
mortgage, investment, exchange-traded bonds
and stocks.
Annual 2011 volume of purchase and sale OTC
transactions amounted to USD 4.8 billion.
All the business processes associated with
trades organization, settlement and clearing
services, depository activities, quotation
support, transactions registration in the OTC
market, and information services, are fully
automated, starting from submission of a bid
to the trading system from a remote terminal of
the trade participant and ending with signing
a protocol upon trading results with the use of
cryptographic information protection within the
System of Electronic Documents (SED)
Continuity of exchange activities is achieved
by using a disaster-resistant architecture that
implies usage of two computer centers: primary
and backup. The access to the BCSE program
complex can be provided by allocated circuits
and the Internet. Hard- and software system of
the BCSE has a multistage protection system to
prevent external entry and damage to the BCSE
and trade participants.
• The software complex of the BCSE includes
the following elements:
• three separate electronic trading systems
(for the currency, stock and futures markets);
• clearing and depository complex;
• system of electronic documents and digital
signature;
• 4 electronic information systems.
Key Information Contacts
Official Website of Belarus www.belarus.by/en/
President of Belarus www.president.gov.by/en/
Ministry of Economy www.economy.gov.by/en/
Ministry of Foreign Affaires www.mfa.gov.by/eng /
National Investment Agency /www.invest.belarus.by/en/
Belarusian Telegraph Agency (National Source of News) www.belta.by/en/
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Recently, the BCSE has implemented various
trading mechanisms and settlement options,
which are combined to provide the best
possible circulation mode of the financial
assets. In particular, the BCSE offers 10 modes
of exchange trading, and 4 settlement codes,
including the classic double auctions modes,
REPO transactions, American and Dutch
auctions, etc.
An important element in the protection of
investors’ interests is building a robust
settlement and clearing system which provides
high speed and ensures transaction execution.
This is exactly the system the BCSE offers its
clients. The settlement bank in all segments
of the exchange market is the National Bank,
which also acts as the guarantor of transactions
execution in the currency market by assuming
the liabilities of insolvent participants. The
settlement depository is the Republican
Central Securities Depository. The BCSE is the
operator of the clearing and settlement system,
and it coordinates the interaction between all
its elements. Clearing is carried out through
multilateral netting. A 100-percent pre-deposit of
funds is used to prevent risks. Such settlement
and clearing system unifies all settlements,
secures the DVP principle, enables to carry
out settlements on the day of transaction and
ensures efficient use of investors’ funds.
Except for organizing trades in the stock market,
the BCSE registers transactions in all types of
securities concluded in the OTC market. The
registration is performed in automated mode
using the electronic system IQS “The OTC
Market”. Combining the functions of trade
organization and OTC transactions registration,
the BCSE disposes a unique database on the
history of circulation for all securities issued in
Belarus.
The BCSE renders a wide range of information
services targeted at different customer
categories - from individual investors to
large companies, operating in the Belarusian
financial market - by means of accumulating
and processing the information on the state,
conditions and development trends of the
financial market of the republic.