Amundi has become the latest issuer to suspend creations and redemptions on its Russia ETF as the crisis in Ukraine deepens.
In a market announcement, Amundi said it had decided to “temporarily suspend” trading on the primary market for the Lyxor MSCI Russia UCITS ETF (RUSL) while the Moscow Stock Exchange remains closed.
The group later announced it would be suspending creations and redemptions of the Lyxor PEA Russie (MSCI Russia IMI Select GDR) UCITS ETF (PRUS), from 4 March.
The French asset manager is the last of the European issuers to suspend its Russia ETF after BlackRock, Invesco, DWS, HSBC, ITI Funds and FinEx Capital all took the same measure earlier this week.
ITI Funds added it has now suspended trading on its bond ETF, the ITI Funds Russia-focused USD Eurobond UCITS ETF (RUSB), after suspending its equity ETF yesterday.
However, trading for both ETFs is still available on the secondary market.
The Russian equity market was labelled “uninvestable” by the world’s largest index provider MSCI following the shuttering of the Moscow Stock Exchange on Monday while the Russian Central Bank has also barred foreign investors from selling their assets.
The restriction of trading Russian securities has seen liquidity in the market dry up, with index providers will no longer able to provide the minimum liquidity requirements required for their inclusion in benchmarks.
“The decision is directly related to the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia which has severe impacts on market trading conditions,” Amundi said in a statement.
“Under the current situation, it is not possible to determine for how long primary market subscriptions will be suspended. The board will closely monitor the situation in order to review the decision on an ongoing basis and reopen the fund for subscriptions as soon as possible.”
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