The authorities will weaken currency control over foreign "subsidiaries" of Russian banks

The authorities will exempt foreign banks from the obligation to inform the tax service about the opening, closing or changing of account details if they are part of the same international group of companies (MGK) with a Russian financial institution. The relevant proposal was prepared by the Ministry of Finance, and Izvestia has a draft resolution on November 17.

Policy-minus: borrowers' insurance has halved this year

Why banks refuse to protect consumer loans

In addition, the authorities want to extend the deadline for submitting documents on the movement of funds on foreign accounts from 30 calendar days to 30 business days after the end of the reporting quarter or half-year.

This measure is necessary due to the difficulties in obtaining supporting documents from non-residents, said Alexey Chichirenkov, senior associate at BBNP Corporate Practice. Relaxing the requirements will simplify formal procedures and optimize business operations, the expert believes.

It will become easier for banks to manage correspondent accounts, and funds will be moved faster, agrees Arthur Leer, Vice President of the Association of Exporters and Importers, Managing Partner of Lex Alliance Law Firm.

The changes will affect those who have banks within MGK — for example, VTB (in Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan), Sber (in Belarus) and Gazprombank (owned by Bank GPB International S.A. in Luxembourg), explained Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global.

Earlier, the European Union approved new sanctions, banning transactions with some Russian banks. Alfa-Bank, VTB and Sberbank branches in Belarus, as well as VTB's foreign branches in Kazakhstan and China, will be subject to restrictions that will take effect on December 2.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Do it yourself with accounts: the authorities will weaken currency control over foreign "subsidiaries" of Russian banks