Financial infrastructure

Moscow is the largest subject of the Russian Federation and the city possessing a powerful financial and economic potential and occupying an extremely favorable geopolitical position, being at the border of the European and Asian economic spaces, the crossing of large transport ways, financial and commodity streams.

On the conclusion of MasterCard Worldwide analysts, from the viewpoint of possibilities for business Moscow is allocated among the largest cities of the world. Moscow occupies one of leading places by the number of world financial companies wishing to open their representation there.

The largest Russian credit organizations, as well as structures providing realization of market mechanisms of economy function in the capital: exchange and insurance companies, registration, license, consulting, legal firms.

The government of the Russian Federation has put a strategic objective: by 2020 Moscow should become the second-large financial centre of Europe after London. Escalating of financial activity in the capital will give powerful acceleration to development of all branches and strengthen positions of Russia in the world economy.

The main condition for transformation of Moscow into the international financial centre is the creation of a developed financial infrastructure and financial regulators comparable with the similar in such leading world centers as London, Frankfurt, New York.

The formation of Moscow as a world financial centre will be promoted by such factors as high rates of economic development of the country, the huge potential of stock markets of Russia and the CIS countries, and also the interest to interaction of the Post-Soviet states and, in a certain degree, of countries of Eastern Europe.

According to forecasts, the level of national capitalization in Russia will by 2020 reach 5.4 — 5.6 trln. dollars that will make it the third-large capital market of the world, capable to compete with such countries as Japan, China, Hong Kong. Thus, the share of Russia in the world capitalization will increase from 2.4 % in 2007 to 6.3 — 7.4 % in 2020. As a result, a considerable part of world financial assets trade will move to Russia that will entail an increase in volumes of real investments into the national economy. By this time development of financial, bank, insurance services, transport, telecommunication infrastructures will come to the level of the world standards and the ruble will become a currency of world payments.

In 2008 the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation has published the Project of the Concept for transformation of Moscow into the international financial centre in 3 years. It assumes the development of competitive and highly capitalized subsystems in the shortest terms — bank, insurance and share market subsystems. Realization of these plans will demand a significant expansion of the sphere of financial services, in particular, development of exchange activity, creation of depository and clearing centers, solution of information, transport problems, maintenance of a free visa regime. It will require entering a number of changes into the tax legislation. The leading role in realization of these plans should be played by development of the bank system.