Russia’s Finam to enter India, expand in China in 2024

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (PRIME) -- Russian financial services group Finam plans to enter the Indian market, expand its presence in China, and create a brokerage company in Kazakhstan and Belarus in 2024, CEO Vladislav Kochetkov told reporters late on Tuesday.

“We continue to develop our plans of international expansion. Of the things that are to come, I think that the market of India will emerge in the first half of next year. It should have happened this year, but we lacked internal management resources,” he said.

“The year was full with events and projects, and the problems with conversion of the rupee and acquisition of the necessary statuses on the Indian market were solved slowly. But now, we have advanced greatly in that, and I think that India will emerge soon.”

At the first stage, the company will provide direct access to the Indian market for qualified investors, he said.

In China, Finam plans to add the stock and bond floors of the continental part of China like the Shanghai bourse to the Hong Kong Exchange, where Finam already operates. “Bonds are present in an over-the-counter regime right now, but we will add a full-fledged order book with a possibility of trading in Shanghai,” Kochetkov said.

The group is also working on joining the Dalian Commodity Exchange, where instruments like the futures for soybeans and pork could be exotic for a Russian investor, but they are liquid, and speculators and hedgers could use them, he said.

Addionally, Finam is working on creation of a crypto broker subsidiary in Belarus, and is looking into the market of Kazakhstan. It could create a broker there or join trade directly through a Russian broker if possible, Kochetkov said.

He also said that the financial group expected the year of 2024 to become the year of initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Russian market. First, a high key rate of the central bank makes bonds less attractive, and second, companies begin to understand that they could raise share capital on the stock market, he said.

Finam thinks that about 20 companies will float their shares in 2024, and if the circumstances are good, the amount will get close to 30. The IPO of Kaluga distillery Kristall that Finam is to organize should happen at the beginning of the year, Kochetkov said.

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