Ukraine’s SEC plans to allow trading in foreign shares on domestic exchanges

Ukraine’s Securities and Exchange Commission approved a plan that would allow foreign-listed companies with assets in Ukraine to be traded on Ukrainian exchanges, according to an announcement from the regulator. The document is open for public discussion for one month, after which it will be officially published on the SEC website. Vitaly Gorovoy: The new rule could allow more than thirty companies to be traded domestically. The most liquid are: Astarta (WSE: AST PW), Avangard (AIM: AVGR LI), Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO LN), Kernel (WSE: KER PW), and Myronivsky Hliboproduct (LSE: MHPC LI). The SEC previously said such dual listings would be voluntary for issuers. We expect interest for placements targeting average daily trading volumes of under USD 50 mln (ADT on the UX in the last 12M was USD 15 mln). We await more details on the legal mechanism to make this happen. If the SEC is able to create more channels for Ukrainians to invest in more liquid names, it would help improve the overall attractiveness of the Ukrainian stock market.