The Central Bank allowed financial institutions to refuse to service foreign exchange contracts to clients. According to changes in the regulator's instructions, banks can block such transactions if there are doubts about their legality. This measure will help fight money laundering, but it needs to be finalized, Kommersant FM’s interlocutors note.

Banks were allowed to block clients' foreign exchange contracts. Such changes have been made to the regulator's instructions. According to the amendments, credit institutions can refuse to service companies with foreign exchange contracts if they have suspicions about the legality of the transaction. We are talking about transactions for laundering criminal proceeds and financing of terrorism. Such a measure will be effective in the fight against dubious currency transactions, says Anatoly Aksakov, president of the Association of Regional Banks of Russia.

“This is a false export, when the goods are not actually supplied abroad, but at the same time some kind of financial transaction is carried out to accompany this transaction. Or, conversely, when exports are carried out abroad, but for an amount much less than what should be received. Further, those amounts who earn money from the sale of products are hidden somewhere offshore. Money is transferred for securities. The securities themselves are not worth anything, it may be so, but at the same time decent amounts are transferred,” Aksakov explained to Kommersant FM.

The new requirements of the Central Bank apply only to contracts that require a transaction passport. It is not clear whether a credit institution will be able to refuse service to a client if such a passport is not available, noted Nina Dronova, head of the department of methodology and organization of work of the financial monitoring service of B&N Bank.

“At first glance, everything is quite simple. You need to act in accordance with the rules of internal control to counteract. However, here the actions of currency control officers must be carried out in strict accordance with currency legislation, which does not stipulate the procedure for refusing to accept a service contract without issuing a passport for it transactions In addition, it is not at all clear whether the requirement of the article of the federal law on the prohibition of informing clients and other persons about measures taken by the bank applies to the situation of refusal to accept a service contract,” Dronova noted.

Tightening the requirements of the Central Bank often leads to the fact that conscientious bank clients suffer. It is expected that credit institutions will approach the implementation of the new regulation with extreme caution, so as not to risk the trust of their clients. This is the opinion of Elena Kupriyanova, head of the anti-money laundering department at SAS Russia/CIS.

“Even if we take formal signs, I can give an example - a significant increase in the share of cash deposited by a legal entity into its account in relation to its usual behavior. Agree that, on the one hand, this is suspicious, but on the other hand, it may to be completely normal behavior of a conscientious client, banks must develop within themselves such methodologies that will provide them with the right solution so that, on the one hand, they comply with the requirements of the regulator, but on the other hand, do not lose their conscientious clients, and, accordingly, do not lose their profits. ", Kupriyanova explained to Kommersant FM.

According to the amended instructions of the Central Bank, banks will be able to block foreign exchange contracts of both Russian and foreign companies.

Yana Pashaeva