On 3 December 2013, Russian Association of Independent Directors and Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs announced the names of the best corporate governance specialists at the “Director of the Year” annual award organized by these two associations.
The past two years were quite a challenging time for National Settlement Depository (NSD): it was a period of integration with Depository Clearing Company and RTS Settlement Chamber that was held in the process of two exchange groups’ merger. It was an important event for Russia’s financial industry, and the professional community recognized its importance together with the significant role played by NSD’s Supervisory Board and its Chairman in this process.
Bella Zlatkis, the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of NSD, won a nomination "Chairperson of the Board of Directors: Contribution to the Corporate Governance Development.”
Igor Rozanov, Executive Director of Russian Association of Independent Directors, said: “According to the Award rules, the winners are selected by the Expert Council that includes the representatives of the state, major corporations, professional community and the past winners. The Expert Council has analyzed the achievements of the chairpersons who head the boards of directors of Russian leading companies, assessed their contributions to Russia’s corporate governance development and selected the winner via a vote.”
Bella Zlatkis said: "I would like to thank the organizers of the award for appreciating my contribution to NSD Supervisory Board activities. One of the key principles of the Supervisory Board activities is to serve the interests of customers and shareholders, to make transparent and balanced decisions in line with their needs. This principle has become systemically important for us and we plan to base our work on it in the future.”
Eddie Astanin, the Chairman of the Executive Board of NSD, pointed out: "It is no exaggeration to say that the post-trading infrastructure is now in the midst of big changes. The importance of the contribution of Bella Zlatkis to the Supervisory Board activities can scarcely be overestimated. The past years of 2011-2012 were most important for us. This was a fledging period for NSD, and at the same time we completed the big projects of integrating NSD, DCC, RTS Settlement Chamber and obtaining the CSD status. The shareholder agreement concluded by our major shareholder Moscow Exchange and our minority shareholders became another important result of the reorganization process. The balance between minority and major shareholders is a foundation stone of the corporate governance. The shareholder agreement provides this balance. In addition to this, we formed the committees of customers which allow our clients to take part in the processes of decision making and managing the company.”
However, the reorganization process is not completed yet. Russian post-trading sector faces new challenges, mostly due to Russian market opening and integration in the global market.
Mr. Astanin added: “Currently, due to Russian central securities depository’s integration in the global infrastructure, with the biggest players such as Euroclear and Clearstream entering Russian market, we consider an opportunity to invite foreign experts to join the Supervisory Board of NSD as independent directors. I am sure that it will improve the quality of the Board’s work.”