Media: DFAs in Russia being prepared for circulation in the OTC segment

What’s new? Brokers may appear on the Russian market of digital financial assets (DFAs) to perform secondary transactions in the over-the-counter (OTC) segment. According to Kommersant, professional participants are already ready to enter the segment.

News on the Kommersant website

What else is known? The entry of brokers into the OTC segment is possible in the absence of a regulatory framework regarding DFA exchange operators. The Bank of Russia also noted that the current legislation allows only OTC trading. In this, secondary trading is allowed through exchange operators, but according to Kommersant, there is not a single organization in the relevant register of the Central Bank.

According to Denis Iordanidi, CEO of Lighthouse, an information system operator on the issue of DFAs, the model of the secondary trading of such instruments involves interaction between an information system operator, a bank, and a broker. The bank and the broker will make settlements with each other, excluding the registration of the broker’s clients as users. Such a scheme will allow providing individuals with access to DFAs. The client will have to pay a one-time commission to the broker, who, in turn, will give part of the commission to the information system.

Sberbank, Atomyze, and Lighthouse are the registered operators for issuing DFAs in Russia, all three companies have already issued this type of assets. Moscow Exchange also announced the release of a DFA-based product by the end of the year. Diamond mining company Alrosa is discussing the possibility of issuing DFAs backed by diamonds.

In early October, Atomyze, the platform for the digitalization of assets, released its first DFA for a basket of precious metals. It included gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium. The metals are produced by the DFA issuer, Krastsvetmet. Vector X broker became the investor.

At the end of September, the Moscow Exchange prepared a draft law under which depositories will be able to issue depositary receipts for DFAs. Such documents will be able to circulate on the platform that issues them as securities. As soon as the client will need the underlying asset, they will have to redeem the receipt and get their DFA afterward.