Russia's top bank Sberbank has started operations on the over-the-counter securities market as part of its strategy to offer brokerage services, the bank said on Tuesday.

Sberbank will carry out operations with Russia's external loan bonds, corporate Eurobonds and foreign governments' bonds, shares of private equity funds circulating on stock exchanges, and also with American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), the bank said.

"As part of the efforts to provide services for the conduct of operations with instruments of the over-the-counter market, we are starting to offer new opportunities for work on foreign markets. In particular, an important advantage for investors will be diversification of portfolios by a large number of parameters: asset classes, foreign exchange, the credit quality and the issuer's country," Sberbank Vice-President and Director of the Department for Treasury and Financial Market Operations Andrei Golikov said.

RIA Novosti