Dear shareholders!

The past year was a challenging one for the Russian financial market: we saw negative trends in the economy and a decrease in investor interest across many Russian asset classes. The situation was further complicated by continuing restrictions on new borrowing in the capital markets. Nevertheless, Moscow Exchange achieved impressive results thanks to excellent work by the management team and a best-practice system of corporate governance.

In the summer of 2015, the Supervisory Board approved a Corporate Governance Code for Moscow Exchange that establishes the Company’s corporate governance system and practices as well as setting the agenda for their further improvement. One of the Exchange’s strategic priorities is to pro-actively participate in strengthening corporate governance across the Russian public company universe.

In particular, we do this through the Listing Rules, which set corporate governance standards for issuers. Moscow Exchange itself strictly adheres to these standards to set a good example for other corporates. High-quality corporate governance is an essential prerequisite for the success of any public company.

Currently, our Supervisory Board consists of 15 directors, five of whom are independent. This year, the number of directors will be reduced to 12 with the aim of improving efficiency; we expect the number of independent directors to remain unchanged, underlining our commitment to attracting the best professionals to the Board and ensuring that the Board’s work is as effective, professional and transparent as possible for investors.

The attractiveness of any public company depends to a great degree on its dividend policy. In 2015, the Moscow Exchange Supervisory Board adopted a new Dividend Policy stating that the total dividend pay-out shall amount to no less than 55% of net income according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). And the Supervisory Board recommended a record-high dividend for the year 2015 of RUB 16.2 billion, which is 58.2% of net profit under IFRS.

In early 2015, the Supervisory Board approved the Exchange’s new Strategy for 2015-2020. The Strategy sets out the main mission of Moscow Exchange: to promote economic growth and restructuring of the Russian economy by expanding opportunities for capital-raising by companies and to create a convenient, secure and transparent investment environment for Russian and international investors. The purpose of the Supervisory Board is to create favourable conditions for successful implementation of the Strategy and to monitor its implementation by the executive bodies of the Company.

Alexey L. Kudrin