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- Financial markets and institutional banking
Financial markets and institutional banking
The Bank uses its local market knowledge and expertise to participate in the Russian securities market on behalf of its clients and for its own trading portfolio. The Bank’s general policy provides for diversified its portfolio of dealing securities with a primary focus on Russian market securities or linked derivatives. The average duration of the portfolio does not exceed one month that reflects its trading as opposed to investment nature.
The main instruments traded are:
- Russian Ministry of Finance Bonds,
- Bonds of regional and municipal administrations,
- Russian government Eurobonds,
- Bonds and promissory notes of top Russian issuers, such as Gazprom, Magnitogorsk Steel, Russian Railways and Sberbank of Russia,
- Equities of Russian blue chip companies.
On the domestic foreign exchange market, ROSBANK acts as a market maker and estimates its market share at approximately 5%. The Bank’s foreign exchange business makes approximately 70% of its profits from customer driven trades. On the international markets, the Bank deals in all major currencies, and domestically, the Bank primarily enters into US Dollar and Euro exchanges against the Rouble. ROSBANK provides to its customers both spot and forward FX facilities as well as options.
Where the Bank has excess liquidity, it places RUR short-term deposits with financially sound Russian banks and foreign bank subsidiaries in Moscow. The allocation of short-term foreign currency resources is placed primarily with highly ranked international banks for maturities of up to one month.
The Bank is licensed by the CBR for operations with precious metals and for their export. The Bank currently services several major Russian producers of gold, silver and platinum and continues to expand its contacts with other metals and mining entities. The main line of co-operation relates to the financing and handling of export contracts, although the Bank also develops lending relationships with producers of precious metals without direct connection to export programmes. In 2005, the total volume of ROSBANK’s operations in gold and silver market amounted to approximately 24 and 19 tons respectively, while transactions with platinum group metals totalled 4.4 tons.
The Bank actively promotes a comprehensive package of services to medium and small-sized local banks, which form one of its target customer groups, as well as to banks from CIS countries and Baltic States. ROSBANK offers payment services in Roubles and major hard currencies, trade finance operations, a wide range of treasury products, securities trading and banknote operations. In certain cases the Bank participates in syndicated loan facilities. Presently, the Bank maintains over 500 correspondent accounts for 190 banks from Russia and other CIS countries. In addition, ROSBANK provides sponsorship to other Russian banks for joining VISA International and Mastercard International as Associate/Affiliate Members. This service meets a growing interest in the community and by the end of 2005, 30 banks located in various regions of Russia took part in the programme assisted by ROSBANK.
