The  Central Bank has decided to alter its policy and allow trading  of foreign stocks in Russia without direct consent of their  issuers, as long as the broker offering the shares takes  responsibility for providing full disclosure, Vedomosti reported  Thursday.

“Admitting first-class foreign issuers to the Russian market can give  momentum to the development of the Russian financial market  and the creation of a financial center in Moscow,”  a spokesman from the regulator’s Service for Financial Markets  said.

A law that went into force on Sept. 30 had required stock  exchanges to sign agreements with issuers before permitting trades  of foreign stocks.

The restriction prevented the Saint Petersburg stock exchange  from launching trade of 108 foreign securities. At that time, 40  issuers spoke out against their stocks being traded in Russia, while  Goldman Sachs registered a complaint about the exchange with  the Central Bank.

The change will require corresponding alterations to laws  on insider trading, as foreign issuers may currently be held accountable  even if their stocks were traded in Russia without their consent, said  Alexei Timofeyev, chairman of the Russian National Association  of Securities Market Participants.