Russia president signs stock market manipulation bill into law

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday signed into law a bill that introduces stricter punishments for those convicted of manipulating the stock market. Traders and journalists convicted of market manipulation involving more than 1,000,000 rubles may now face prison time between two and seven years, along with fines. The law passed through the State Duma and the Federation Council last month.

The law was announced last year by the head of Russia's Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS), Vladimir Milovidov. The FFMS was created in 2004 by then-president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In 2007, Russia created a new division within the FFMS in order to help combat insider trading, but it is unclear whether this has had any effect. Russia has two primary stock exchanges, the RTS and the MICEX.

(Published by Jurist - November 2, 2009)