The scandal surrounding the “bankruptcy” of the St. Petersburg Exchange is gaining momentum

The Bank of Russia described the false bankruptcy of St. Petersburg Exchange as being close to a criminal act.

The platform warned that there may be fraudsters involved in the bankruptcy filing situation.

The St. Petersburg Exchange's trading in shares will be monitored by the Central Bank for any signs of price manipulation.

Mikhail Mamuta, the head of the Service for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Ensuring the Availability of Financial Services of the Central Bank, has stated that the filing of an application for bankruptcy of the St. Petersburg Exchange, which the trading platform itself called fraudulent, looks like an attempt to manipulate the market and requires investigation by law enforcement agencies and the Bank of Russia, as reported by Interfax.

On November 24, the St. Petersburg Exchange's filing for bankruptcy was included in the arbitration court's records, and by the morning of November 27, news of the filing had spread through the media and various telegram channels. As a result, the trading platform's shares dropped by 34%.

The St. Petersburg Exchange was named as a defendant in the case, however, there was no information regarding the plaintiff and the amount of claims against the company on the card. The Exchange has denied filing for bankruptcy and has declared that it is in a stable financial state.

The Moscow Arbitration Court, after examining the application, determined that it must be returned as the applicant had not followed the pre-trial procedure. SPB Exchange declared that it intends to contact the relevant authorities to investigate the matter.

The Bank of Russia declared that it will assess the circumstances concerning the bankruptcy filing of the St. Petersburg Exchange and the activities of market players involving its stocks.

Kommersant reports that the majority of market participants and experts view the attempt by an unidentified applicant to declare bankruptcy of the St. Petersburg Exchange as a ploy to destabilize the situation around the site and gain attention.

It is stressed by lawyers that anyone can submit an application to the court for an exchange, and the court must register it, even if it is then just sent back without being looked at.

On November 2, the St. Petersburg Exchange, which had been specializing in trading foreign securities in Russia for many years, was blocked due to US sanctions. As a result, trading in foreign securities and foreign currencies on the stock exchange has been suspended, and clients no longer have access to them.