OREANDA-NEWS. More than 300 market participants gathered in London on 22 October for the annual Moscow Exchange Forum: London Session. Held at the Andaz Hotel, the Forum shed light on opportunities in Russia's capital markets, upgrades to market infrastructure and product development at the Exchange, and the future of regulatory reform.

The Forum opened with a plenary session featuring a blue-ribbon panel including MoEx Supervisory Board Chairman and former Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin, First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia Sergey Shvetsov, Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Nikolai Podguzov and founder of Prosperity Capital Management Mattias Westman. MoEx CEO Alexander Afanasiev moderated the panel.

In the afternoon the focus moved to Moscow Exchange's markets and post-trade infrastructure. Sessions covered the Equity & Bond Market, FX & Money Market and Derivatives Market. Parallel panels focused on "Russia's CSD: Driving infrastructure changes", "Clearing, central counterparty and risk management: Key initiatives" and "IT: Update on key projects and new systems".

Alexander Afanasiev, CEO of Moscow Exchange, said: "We were pleased to see such strong interest from the UK investment community in Russian market structure and the upgrades we are making to ensure Moscow maintains its position as a globally competitive financial centre."

CNBC served as media partner for the event, with European Closing Bell host Louisa Bojesen conducting interviews on the sidelines. The event was webcast live by the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI); a full recording will be available on demand via the Institute's website, www.cisi.org.