Derivatives open interest rises 29 percent to 2.7 trillion rubles
Open interest in futures contracts on the Moscow Exchange grew 29 percent to 2.68 trillion rubles between July 2025 and June 2026. A Bank of Russia review shows that domestic corporate hedging and local interbank trading drove growth across nearly all derivatives segments.
Corporate hedging fuels OTC revival
Open positions in foreign exchange forwards rose 45 percent in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, sustained by non-financial corporate demand.
Trading in non-friendly currencies occurred primarily through non-deliverable contracts settled in rubles.
Ruble interest rate swap positions increased 40 percent from July 2025 to June 2026 as banks adjusted balance sheet duration following monetary policy easing.
Cross-currency swap transactions shifted almost entirely to maturities under one year, representing 98 percent of new volume.
Non-resident activity ceased after earlier positions matured in mid-2025, leaving local banks and firms as the primary counterparties.
Gold leads exchange-traded expansion
Exchange-traded futures reached 2.68 trillion rubles in open interest, led by the money market section which gained 551 billion rubles.
Commodity trading concentrated heavily on precious metals, where settlement gold futures generated 2.2 trillion rubles in turnover between July 2025 and June 2026.
Retail investors accounted for up to 54 percent of commodity positions and 56 percent of equity contracts.
In contrast, credit default swap activity remained completely dormant with zero transactions in early 2026.
Shorter tenors reveal underlying fragility
Local substitution prevented market paralysis by channeling corporate hedging through ruble settlements.
Yet compressing swap maturities to under one year reflects persistent caution rather than true market deepening.
Without external liquidity, this closed network concentrates systemic risk within a few domestic lenders.