Financiers strive for simplicity – Newspaper Kommersant No. 26 (7471) of 02/13/2023

A draft law has been prepared for submission to the State Duma, significantly increasing the amount of accompanying information when transferring funds, not only about the sender, but also about the recipient. According to market participants, the provisions of the document are in conflict with the law on personal data, and in some cases are simply not feasible. In addition, major changes will have to be made to the operation of the fast payment system (SPB), where a phone number is enough to identify the recipient.

At the disposal of Kommersant was a bill prepared by Rosfinmonitoring. The document aims to bring Russian legislation into line with FATF Recommendation 16 in terms of clarifying the composition of information accompanying money transfers. It involves a significant increase in the amount of information disclosed.

Now the composition of data when transferring funds from citizens is limited to information about the sender: full name, account number, TIN or address (if any), the accompanying information is not regulated for the recipient. The project provides for the disclosure of such information about both parties, and also adds passport data and the number of an electronic means of payment (card or wallet, for example). The project has been sent for approval by the Central Bank, but has already caused criticism from market participants.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the reviews prepared by specialized associations. Thus, the National Council of the Financial Market (NSFR) writes that as a result of the implementation of the project, market participants will be required to ensure control over the availability of information constituting personal data, not only of their client, the sender of the payment, but also of the recipient, in respect of which the bank did not receive consent for their processing, necessary in accordance with the requirements of the relevant law (152-FZ).

“In addition, it is not clear how the bill will affect the work of the SBP, which currently requires only the recipient’s phone number to initiate a transfer,” explains Andrei Yemelin, head of the NSFR. “It will be impossible to maintain the service in its current form without creating an undesirable and anti-competitive arbitration”.

The Association of Participants in the Market for Electronic Money and Money Transfers (AED) adds that the details of a Russian passport include a lot of additional information that is far from always needed to unambiguously identify the document and its holder: “We propose to include only the series and number of the document in the settlement documents “.

Also, both associations note possible problems with the correct filling of documents for cross-border transfers. Both the beneficiaries themselves and their banks may not match the details with the required format. There are also security issues: based on the provisions of the bill, it will be necessary to transfer card numbers in unencrypted form, which is contrary to the rules of payment systems.

It was not possible to get comments from Rosfinmonitoring and the Bank of Russia over the weekend. However, analysts agree that the bill will have a negative impact on the money transfer market.

Thus, Dmitry Vishnyakov, an independent expert in the payment card market, believes that additional requirements will significantly increase the administrative burden of banks. Subsequently, this may result in an increase in tariffs for bank money transfers, Mr. Vishnyakov emphasizes.

In turn, Roman Prokhorov, the head of the board of the Financial Innovations Association, draws attention to the fact that in the “Main Directions for the Development of the Financial Market for 2023-2025”, the Central Bank announced the implementation of measures to significantly optimize the AML/CFT system (anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism). ). “Unfortunately, the draft law under consideration clearly does not correspond to this paradigm – with persistence worthy of better application, the implementation of FATF requirements continues in the context of the virtual elimination of Russian jurisdiction from participating in decision-making within the organization,” the expert emphasizes.

According to Mr. Prokhorov, ensuring the transfer of information about the sender and recipient of funds if significant improvements to automated systems are necessary “does not make obvious practical sense, since all information about account holders is available in credit institutions and can be provided (already provided) upon request as part of AML activities /FT”.

Maxim Buylov