Exclusive: Trust hires Goldman’s Popatov as it rebuilds investment banking

November 25, 2009

By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow
Trust Bank has hired Igor Potapov as head of investment banking as it attempts to rebuild its equity brokerage operation.
A source close to Trust confirmed Potapov, a former head of sales trading at Goldman Sachs in Moscow, had been hired recently.
Trust Investment Bank is a mid-tier broker and a subsidiary of [...]

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COMMENT: Bank of St Petersburg to place convertible prefs at 3%-19% premium to the market

November 25, 2009

By Rustam Botahev, Senior Analyst at Unicredit Securities
Bank Saint Petersburg plans to raise $200m in a placement of convertible preferred shares, Bloomberg reports. The announced price range for the issue is $3.1-3.6, which implies a premium of 3%-19% to the Monday’s (the day before the announcement) closing price on MICEX of RUB 86.79 ( [...]

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President Medvedev orders investigation into the death of lawyer Magnitsky

November 24, 2009

By Jason Corcoran in Moscow
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered prosecutors to investigate the death of the Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died eight days ago in custody.
A report issued this afternoon by the news agency Itar-Tass said  Medvedev has issued an instruction to Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and Justice Minister Alexander [...]

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VTB Bank opens for business in Baku

November 24, 2009

By Ivan Anderzhanov
Russia’s state-controlled VTB Bank has launched a subsidiary business in Azerbaijan with the intention of developing a full range of products and services.
VTB Bank (Azerbaijan) assets amounted to $20m at its inception, while the bank’s chartered capital was just under $10m.
The bank will initially focus on serving corporate clients and financing foreign trade [...]

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Pharos $350m agriculture fund targets Middle East investors

November 23, 2009

By Jason Corcoran
Pharos Financial Advisors today launched a $350m private equity fund focused on acquiring and operating land in Eastern Europe, Eurasia and Africa.
Pharos, a Russian-based investment firm which expanded to Dubai last year, is expecting to raise more than half of the fund from investors in the Middle East.
The Pharos Miro Agricultural fund, [...]

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Norwegian sovereign fund dumps Norilsk Nickel stake for ethical reasons

November 20, 2009

By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow
The $453bn Norwegian sovereign wealth fund has dumped its stake in Russian miner Norilsk Nickel on the grounds it has breached the fund’s environmental guidelines.
The fund’s ethical group said in a report said it was likely Norilsk’s operations are causing damage that will have effects “far into the future.”
The decision was [...]

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Sberbank hires Alfa’s Borovikov for move into private banking

November 20, 2009

By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow
Russian state savings giant Sberbank has hired Sergey Borovikov to head its new private banking unit.
According to a report in today’s RBC Daily, Sberbank have hired the head of Alfa Bank’s VIP private client operation to develop its own private banking and wealth management operation.
Borovikov told the newspaper [...]

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Moscow Prosecutor denies an independent examination into the cause of Hermitage lawyer’s death

November 20, 2009

By Jason Corcoran in Moscow
The Moscow Prosecutor Office has rejected a request for an independent medical examination into the death of the Hermitage Capital’s lawyer Sergey Magnitsky.
His mother had made a request for an independent examination after Magnitsky had died in custody on Monday November 16 after complaining for weeks that he was denied [...]

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COMMENT Russia 2010: Worth A Tactical Look

November 19, 2009

By James Beadle, Global & Emerging Market Strategist, Market-Melange.com
Russia’s under-performance relative to its BRIC peers is justified and well-explained. Yet, it also creates upside potential. Russia is beginning a new development phase, which creates opportunity and makes it an attractive buy for 2010.
The potential for decisive progress is limited and many systematic problems will remain. [...]

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Belgium’s KBC to sell Russia’s Absolut bank

November 19, 2009

By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow
Belgian financial group KBC Group is looking to sell Absolut Bank only two years after acquiring its key Russian asset for $1bn.
Analysts suggested that the most likely buyer would be another foreign group keen to gain access to the Russian banking sector.
KBC needs to slash the size of its business by [...]

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Rencap hires Igor Kamenskoy as chairman of the board

November 18, 2009

By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow
Renaissance Capital today announced the appointment of a senior politician Igor Kamenskoy as chairman of the board.
A long-serving member of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of Parliament, Kamenskoy will oversee Renaissance’s relationships with Russian government agencies and regulators as well as state corporations.
Kamenskoy’s appointment will become effective immediately following his [...]

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Exclusive: LSE Russian team sees future for dual listings

November 18, 2009

By Jason Corcoran in Moscow
The London Stock Exchange believes dual Russian stock listings in Moscow and London will endure in spite of plans to curb the amount firms can sell overseas.
The new rules, which are due to come into force from January 1, aim to restrict domestic companies from running to foreign exchanges by retaining [...]

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