Izvestia: The Central Bank may allow small banks to open correspondent accounts abroad on a permanent basis

Small credit banks may be allowed to open correspondent accounts abroad on a permanent basis. A similar initiative is spelled out in the report of the Bank of Russia on promising areas for the development of banking regulation and supervision. The proposal was put forward by the Association of Banks of Russia. This was reported “News” with a link to the document.

The report notes that some small banks may take over the duties of clearing houses due to sanctions against large banks. At the same time, for small banks, they can set a limit on the placement of money abroad in the amount of a share of their capital.

Banks with a basic license can open correspondent accounts abroad until December 31, 2023. Some credit institutions have already taken advantage of this right, Izvestia was told in the press service of the Central Bank. At the same time, account balances in correspondent accounts with foreign banks are insignificant – by the end of 2022, they did not exceed 1.4% of the total capital of banks with a basic license.

As the Association of Banks of Russia explained to Izvestia, it is quite difficult for banks with a basic license to open correspondent accounts abroad. According to experts, this may take up to six months, so permission to open correspondent accounts should be made permanent.

In the summer, small banks were temporarily allowed to open correspondent accounts abroad. This happened after major banks lost their foreign correspondent accounts due to sanctions in response to the military operation in Ukraine.

More details – in the material “Kommersant” “All banks will visit them”.

Olesya Pavlenko