The National Bank of Ukraine facilitates the more efficient functioning of the FX market. On October 23, 2015, NBU Board Resolution No. 721 On Amendments to Some Regulations of the National Bank of Ukraine and NBU Board Resolution No. 722  On Amendments to Some Regulatory Documents of the National Bank of Ukraine were issued to this effect.

Resolution No. 722 extends the trading hours for the System for Confirmation of Deals in Ukraine’s Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (hereinafter – the System) by an hour. From now on, the System will operate Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. (Kyiv time). Prior to the extension of the trading hours, it was open for trading Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Fridays and pre-holiday days.

The aforementioned changes will enable banks to manage liquidity in a more efficient manner through the execution of FX swap transactions. The new rules governing the execution of FX swap transactions are set out in Resolution No. 721.

Resolution No. 721 will enable international financial institutions to raise additional funds in domestic currency to be channeled into lending to the Ukrainian borrowers. To this end, the regulator has allowed authorized banks to conduct FX swap transactions with international financial institutions.

At the same time, the National Bank of Ukraine has expanded the list of currencies eligible for FX swap transactions.  Up until now, banks were permitted to conduct FX swap transactions in hard currencies that are widely used for international payments, traded on the  main global foreign exchange markets and are designated as eligible for investments into Ukraine's economy (foreign currencies of the 1st Group of the Classification of Foreign Currencies and Banking Metals).  From now on, this requirement shall no longer be applicable.

Both Resolutions shall take effect from October 27, 2015.