The National Securities and Stock Market Commission's (the "Commission") Resolution "On Approval of Regulation on Admission of Securities of Foreign Issuers for Trading in Ukraine" (the "Regulation") became effective on 22 January 2013.

The Regulation applies to shares and debt securities of foreign issuers and, subject to a separate decision of the Commission, to depositary receipts for such securities. It stipulates the conditions for the admission of securities of foreign issuers (the "foreign securities") to trading and lists the documents to be filed in order to obtain the relevant permit. Among the key provision of the Regulation are:

• the Commission has 30 days, after all the documents are filed, to decide whether to admit a foreign security to trading;
• trading may commence on the day following the day of official publication of the Commission's decision;
• the foreign securities can be admitted to trading in Ukraine only on stock exchanges;
• the foreign issuer must notify the Commission within 10 days of any decision to consolidate, split, cancel securities and of any other actions resulting in change of quantity or par value of the admitted securities.

In general, the Regulation has the potential to improve access of Ukrainian investors to financial instruments of foreign issuers, increase market liquidity and saturation of the national stock market with investment-grade securities. However, currency exchange controls continue to make practical implementation of the Regulation problematic.

For further information please contact partner Vadym Samoilenko
and senior associate Oles Kvyat