VTB CEO Andrey Kostin supports the Central Bank’s idea of the need to protect a private investor. This statement of the head of the bank was sent out by the press service of VTB. However, the banker also noted that it is important to find a balance between regulation and market development.
According to Kostin, excessive restrictions may lead to the fact that investors will look for an alternative and may leave the Russian securities market, opting for less understandable, transparent and reliable products such as gold, dollar, bitcoin. Or investors will open accounts with foreign brokers, with which they are much less protected from a legal point of view.
Andrey Kostin emphasized that one of the important results of 2020 is the entry of a mass private investor into the Russian market, while the interests of clients are shifting towards investment products. According to the head of VTB, in the total portfolio of attracted funds of individuals VTB, which is estimated at 6.8 trillion rubles, the volume of investment products is more than 1.8 trillion rubles.
“After the restrictions imposed by the Central Bank on the purchase of complex investment products by individuals, sales have been suspended until April 2022. Even such as, for example, bonds of the largest Russian banks – VTB and Sberbank – with full capital protection, tied to gold, which are absolutely reliable with from the point of view of the client’s interests, – Andrey Kostin noted. – But such instruments should be expanded, not limited. We believe it is important to maintain an optimal level of regulation and gradually expand the range of instruments available for investment. “