The Bank of Russia has advised market participants to exercise caution when disseminating information concerning investors' rights and legitimate interests. The bank emphasized that communications to customers should be comprehensive and clearly worded to prevent any incorrect or ambiguous interpretations.
On January 29, 2024, Cifra Broker LLC informed its customers that their trade transactions on SPB Exchange would be terminated starting January 30, 2024. However, the message failed to specify that this decision was made solely by Cifra Broker LLC and only affected its customers, not trading on SPB Exchange as a whole. Consequently, the investment community misinterpreted the message as an indication that all Russian securities trading on SPB Exchange would soon be suspended and that the exchange would cease functioning as a trading platform. This news spread through Telegram and mass media, causing share prices on SPB Exchange to drop by 13% within 20 minutes.
The Bank of Russia investigated the circumstances and found no intent to manipulate share prices on SPB Exchange by either the broker or mass media. Despite this finding, the Bank of Russia cautioned that inaccurate information can negatively impact the financial market, mislead investors, and pose risks of market manipulation. Violations involving market manipulation bans, including deliberately distributing false information, are subject to liability under current legislation.
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