The Central Bank has calculated the amount of funds invested by Russians in assets with a “muddy structure.” It is 600 billion rubles, said the first deputy head of the regulator Sergei Shvetsov, quoted by TASS.
According to Shvetsov, unscrupulous investment companies enjoy a significant influx of private investors into the Russian stock market and offer products whose parameters and profitability are difficult to determine even for professionals.
“And these two trends – on the one hand, the emergence of a large number of individuals, absolutely without experience and knowledge, and the emergence of a wide range of products with a muddy structure (up to 600 billion [rubles], we are now evaluating a portfolio of such products in the hands of citizens) , created fears that the expectations of citizens who purchased such products correspond to reality, “Shvetsov noted.
At the end of last year, the Central Bank prepared a bill that provides for additional requirements for financial institutions selling investment products to the public. If the document is adopted, they, in particular, will be prohibited from offering to individuals without the status of a qualified investor so-called structured products (involving investments in risky assets and not guaranteeing strict returns), as well as shares and derivatives, transactions with which are made in unorganized auctions. In case of violation of this rule, the seller will be obliged to buy the risky product back from the client.
In 2020, the main Russian stock exchanges – Moscow and St. Petersburg – recorded a massive influx of individual customers. The number of new brokerage accounts exceeded their number at the beginning of the year and amounted to four million.