Russian business has entered into open confrontation with the regulator over the tightening of stock exchange listing rules. "Delovaya Rossiya" has sent an official appeal to the Bank of Russia demanding a softening of the recently introduced norms for initial public offerings. The key point of protest is the mandatory signature of a financial advisor in the prospectus, which, according to entrepreneurs, will become an insurmountable barrier for small and medium-sized companies.
The Essence of the Conflict
Let me remind you: in early August, the Central Bank tightened requirements for admitting securities to organized trading. Now issuers are required to engage at least two independent analysts to assess the fair value of the business, and after the listing, to obtain ratings from at least two credit agencies. However, the most painful point has become the requirement for a joint signature of the prospectus by a financial advisor.
According to Alexey Lazutin, chairman of the "Delovaya Rossiya" subcommittee on public capital markets, finding a placement organizer willing to take on such responsibility for companies raising less than 1–2 billion rubles is practically impossible. Economically, joint liability for the content of the prospectus is extremely disadvantageous for advisors — in practice, they will simply refuse this role, making stock exchange access for small issuers effectively unattainable.
Business proposes making the advisor's signature voluntary, leaving responsibility for the accuracy of the prospectus with the issuer itself and its officials — in accordance with current legislation.
Parallel Processes
It is telling that against this backdrop, exchanges are actively seeking new categories of issuers. The Moscow Exchange has already announced plans to attract video game developers — there are more than 150 such studios in the country, and a separate council is being created for them in the "Innovation and Investment Market" sector. The vector is obvious: expanding the circle of companies capable of going public.
Meanwhile, their own battles are unfolding in the West. Anthropic is preparing an IPO with a separate section on risks associated with negative public attitudes toward AI, at a valuation of nearly $1 trillion. China's DeepSeek plans a listing by the end of 2026, raising $71 billion for data center construction. And SpaceX, for its IPO, has lowered the minimum entry threshold for retail investors from $500,000 to $2,000 — though experts rightly see this not as concern for individual investors, but as a search for buyers for assets at their peak.
My view: The Central Bank's requirements, aimed at protecting investors, in their current form risk stifling the young public offering market in Russia. The regulator should find a balance — for example, differentiating requirements depending on the volume of funds raised, otherwise we risk being left with a market dominated only by large issuers, while medium-sized businesses never gain access to public capital.