MOSCOW – "The National Depository Center" (Closed Joint Stock Company) (NDC), Russia's only settlement depository servicing the full range of debt and equity securities of Russian issuers, reports that Alexander Ikonnikov, an independent director of NDC's Board of Directors, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Independent Directors Association, has won the Annual International Prize "The Rising Star of Corporate Governance" established by Yale School of Management. The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, has named the winners in the course of the annual corporate governance forum held by Yale Management School.
Mr. Ikonnikov said: "First of all this award demonstrates that the international expert community recognized reforms in the corporate governance sphere held in Russia. At the same time it reveals international business's expectations related to a continuance of the reforms with regard to improvement of the quality of the corporate governance in our country."
The award has been established in order to reward the corporate governance professionals who approved themselves as outstanding analysts, experts, directors and managers. Representatives of various countries including Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Jordan, Russia, Singapore and the US have been named the winners of "Rising Star of Corporate Governance" Award in 2010.
The nominees were selected by the jury which included representatives of the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance, International Corporate Governance Network, the Open Compliance and Ethics Group, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The jury evaluated the nominees' achievements, leadership qualities, future projects and initiatives, their reputation in the industry and potential of the nominees' influence in the sector in future.
Alexander Ikonnikov was elected the member of NDC's BoD in 2007. He has taken part in development of recommendations on improvement of NDC's corporate governance system and was involved in NDC's reorganization from not-for-profit partnership to a joint-stock company. Now he heads the company's Committee on HR (Nominations) and Remuneration in the Board of Directors.
About NDC
"The National Depository Center" (Closed Joint Stock Company) is the largest settlement depository in Russia, servicing on-exchange and OTC transactions with all types of debt and equity securities of Russian issuers. NDC provides storage of global certificates and depository accounting for 99% of corporate bond issues, sub-federal and municipal bond issues. It services 100% of transactions conducted in the federal bond and the Bank of Russia bond markets, more than 99% of transactions conducted in the corporate and regional bond markets, the majority of transactions with equities and also services UIT units and Eurobonds. The international rating agency Thomas Murray has assigned NDC an АА- rating as a central depository. NDC is Russia's national numbering agency, and the substitute numbering agency for the CIS, authorized to assign the international ISIN and CFI codes.
Among NDC’s shareholders are MICEX (50,39% of shares), Bank of Russia (42,2997% of shares) as well as GPB (OJSC) (Gazprombank), Evrofinance Mosnarbank, “ROSBANK” (OJSC JSCB), JSC VTB Bank, Bank of Moscow, Vnesheconombank, “ING BANK (EURASIA) ZAO”, CB “J.P. Morgan Bank International” (LLC), ZAO UniCredit Bank, Deutsche Bank Ltd, and Sberbank.
NDC Director General – Eddie Astanin, Chairman of NDC’s Board of Directors – Sergey Lykov.
NDC has stakes in Settlement Depository Company CJSC (28.54%).
For further information about NDC: www.ndc.ru, or NDC Public Affairs Division: +7 495 232 0910,