Ukraine National Commission on Securities and Stock Market advances draft wartime rules tightening trading and custody movements of Ukraine external government loan bonds

The Ukraine National Commission on Securities and Stock Market’s Committee on Supervision and Control approved a draft decision to introduce additional rules for transactions in Ukraine’s external government loan bonds (OZDP) during martial law. The package would require delivery-versus-payment settlement via a central counterparty and would restrict how rights to OZDP can be transferred through the depository system. Under the draft, depository institutions could transfer rights to OZDP only on the basis of an order or notification from the National Bank of Ukraine. It would also ban write-offs and other actions that result in OZDP being withdrawn from the depository accounting system. Investment firms would have to align already concluded but unexecuted contracts, including repo and exchange agreements, with the new requirements, while contracts where a bank acts on its own behalf and at its own expense would be excluded. The changes are planned to enter into force 30 calendar days after official publication. The draft is expected to be submitted to the Commission for approval and subsequent publication.