The head of Russia's second-biggest bank has urged Hong Kong's stock market regulator, which restricts small investors from trading in the shares of aluminium giant Rusal, to clarify whether it will extend the same treatment to other Russian firms seeking to list in the city.
The Securities and Futures Commission ruled that shares in Rusal, whose January initial public offering was marred by revelations in its 1,141-page prospectus of controversial lawsuits and high debts, could only be traded in blocks worth HK$200,000 or more.
Andrey Kostin, the chairman and chief executive of VTB Bank, said it had 'dozens' of Russian clients who want to sell stocks in the city. But he said they were worried about the possibility that the SFC might extend the Rusal decision to them.
'Rusal is one of the largest and best known companies in Russia,' he said. 'If other companies, which are smaller and not so famous, come here, what can they expect?'
Rusal's shares have plunged 38 per cent to HK$6.72 since the initial public offering, amid thin trading. Kostin blamed this lacklustre performance partly on retail investors being restricted from buying the aluminium producer's stock.
VTB plans to open a small investment bank in Hong Kong, which will advise Russian firms conducting initial public offerings in the city.