iShares MSCI Russia ADR/GDR UCITS ETF

RNS ANNOUNCEMENT

iShares VII plc (the "Company")

iShares MSCI Russia ADR/GDR UCITS ETF (the "Fund") - ISIN: IE00B5V87390

Temporary suspension of valuation and primary market dealing in respect of shares of the Fund

3 March 2022

In order to protect the interests of investors in the Fund, the Board of Directors (the "Board") of the Company has taken the decision to suspend the valuation of the Fund and the issue, redemption and switching of shares of the Fund, with effect from and including 3 March 2022 until further notice.

Due to the escalating conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, normal market trading conditions have become increasingly impaired, and a significant portion of the Fund's portfolio is not currently tradeable. As a result, disposal and valuation of a significant portfolio of investments of the Fund have become impracticable. In the view of the Board, it is therefore in the interests of the Fund and shareholders that dealing in the Fund on the primary market be temporarily suspended with effect from 3 March 2022 in accordance with the provisions on temporary suspension of valuation set out in the Fund's prospectus.

While the Fund remains suspended, any primary market dealing requests received will be rejected.

This suspension of primary market dealing does not apply to secondary market dealing, for example, trading on stock exchanges on which the shares of the Fund are admitted to trading.

At this stage, owing to global events, it is not possible to determine for how long the Fund will be suspended, but this decision will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

In the meantime, we continue to work on behalf of investors to manage the Fund in accordance with its investment objective and policy.

The Board will take the decision to lift this suspension as soon as it is practicable to do so. Updates will be posted to the iShares website www.ishares.com and lifting of the suspension will also be notified by RNS.

We thank you for your patience and understanding during this challenging period.

An electronic copy of the full shareholder letter shall be made available shortly for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism and available to download from the iShares website www.ishares.com.  

We understand that investors may have questions. If you have any queries, but you do not have a usual iShares contact, you can contact iShares in your respective region on the contact numbers and email addresses below:

·     If located in United Kingdom or if located in any other jurisdiction not listed below, you can contact iShares at:  [email protected], or the helpline telephone number: +44 207 743 1500

·     If located in Germany, you can contact iShares at: [email protected], or the helpline telephone number: +49 89 42729 5858

·     If located in Switzerland, you can contact iShares at: [email protected], or the helpline telephone number +41 (0)800 33 66 88 

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·     If located in the Netherlands, you can contact iShares at: [email protected]

·     If located in Italy, you can contact iShares at: [email protected], or the helpline telephone number +39 02 91597 1

·     If located in Mexico, you can contact iShares at:

[email protected], or the telephone numbers: +52 55.5241.4352 / +562 2577 9610

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