MTS Notifies on Automatic conversion of ADRs
MOSCOW, Russia – Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company (“MTS” or “the Company”) (MOEX: MTSS), Russia’s largest mobile operator and a leading provider of media and digital services, announces that today it has filed an application with J.P. Morgan Bank International of the launch of MTS ADR automatic conversion into ordinary shares under the current Russian legislation1. J.P. Morgan Bank International is the Russian depositary which accounts for American Depositary Receipts (ADR) of MTS under MTS ADR Program held by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JPMorgan).
During the automatic conversion process, all Russian depositaries that currently account for ADRs will write ADRs off from the holders' accounts and credit MTS ordinary shares instead. No action is required on the part of ADR holders, independently on if they are residents or non-residents of Russian Federation. The entire conversion process should take approximately 3 weeks, starting from August 16, 2022.
ADR holders can also apply for compulsory conversion with regard to ADRs, if those are in the custody of foreign depositories and if the holders are due to restrictions, unable to carry out the conversion in any other way. To do this, they should, no later than October 11, 2022, file a request to J.P. Morgan Bank International with a free-form application. It is also required to attach any available documents evidencing the possession of receipts as well as any other relevant information. J.P. Morgan Bank International is obliged to refuse on carrying out the forced conversion to all applied holders if the applications indicate a greater number of MTS shares than is available on the custody account of depository programs. In the course of the compulsory conversion the ADR holders shall receive the MTS ordinary shares in the custody account with J.P. Morgan Bank International. Please note that the right to dispose of the shares received through compulsory conversion is temporarily restricted by the Bank of Russia’s prescription. The compulsory conversion shall be carried out no later than October 25, 2022.
1 Federal Law N 319-FZ On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation, dated 14 July 2022, Decision of the Bank of Russia’s Board of Directors On Adopting the Procedure for the Automatic Conversion of Foreign-Issuer Securities that Certify Rights to Russian-Issuer Shares into Russian-Issuer Shares, dated 22 July 2022.