OREANDA-NEWS. On 29 January 2009 Standard & Poor's announced it raised MDM Bank's Russian national scale Corporate Governance Score (CGS) from 6.7 to 6.9. MDM Bank's international scale CGS was affirmed at 6+. Additionally, the bank was taken off GovernanceWatch with developing implications.

MDM Bank is the only Russian financial institution to be given a public CGS by Standard & Poor's. The bank's CGS of 6+ is among the top three in Russia, following MTS and Wimm-Bill-Dann, both of which are public companies whose shares trade on the NYSE.

The Standard & Poor's CGS is based on the following factors: ownership structure and external influences, shareholder rights and stakeholder relations, transparency and information disclosure, as well as board structure and effectiveness. The CGS methodology makes it possible to measure corporate governance policies and practices at MDM Bank against global best practices.

In this year's report, Standard & Poor's noted that since 2003 MDM Bank has developed as a professionally organized, well governed financial institution that balances the interests of all shareholders. Minority shareholder representation on the bank's Board of Directors and established decision-making procedures ensure that the majority owner's influence is appropriately balanced.

MDM Bank's Chairman of the Board Oleg Viyugin said, "The current economic situation has not reduced MDM Bank's commitment to high standards of corporate governance and transparency. Standards & Poor's evaluation of our efforts confirms that MDM Bank continues to make progress on corporate governance, especially with regards to the functioning of the board of directors."