The Central Bank rejected the proposal to provide credit holidays to victims of hostilities and terrorist attacks
[ad_1]
“It’s time to improve the law on consumer credit”
The Central Bank received a proposal to grant borrowers who find themselves in distress as a result of hostilities and terrorist attacks the right to receive credit holidays. However, the regulator gave a negative response to the initiative.
As it became known to MK, the Association of Russian Banks (ARB) sent a letter to the Central Bank (available to the editors), in which it proposed to approve at the legislative level the right to receive credit holidays for citizens who have emergency circumstances due to hostilities, terrorist attacks and sabotage.
Today, according to Federal Law No. 353 “On Consumer Credit”, banks can apply the credit holiday mechanism, but only if the authorities have officially declared an emergency situation (ES) in the territory of the borrower’s residence. “However, as practice shows, in the event of an emergency, an emergency regime is not always introduced,” the letter says. This legal uncertainty was asked by the regulator to eliminate.
But the Bank of Russia did not support the idea. According to the Central Bank, its recommendations to banks “to take into account the property consequences for the evacuated citizens and their families, as well as the life circumstances that arose in connection with this, and in the event of receipt of relevant requests from these persons with supporting documents, take the necessary measures to settle obligations for consumer and mortgage loans (loans), including various forms of debt restructuring, up to debt forgiveness in special situations, as well as not to foreclose on the property pledged under these obligations”, are a sufficient measure to reduce the adverse consequences for borrowers caused by involuntary resettlement, the response says. Central Bank letter.
The opinions of experts regarding the initiative were divided. Financial analyst Sergei Drozdov believes that the regulator did the right thing and did not want to rock the boat in the credit market amid heightened tensions.
“Credit risks are divided into systemic and individual,” said Maksim Osadchiy, head of the analytical department of the BKF bank. – Banks are designed to deal with individual risks, but only to a limited extent are able to withstand systemic risks. Therefore, in the event of a critical increase in systemic risks (for example, a pandemic or mobilization), the Central Bank provides banks with relief – it allows them not to increase reserves for possible loan losses in the event of loan restructuring.
“The Central Bank represents the interests of the state. For him, the criterion that specific critical events (military actions, terrorist attacks, etc.) can be attributed to manifestations of a systemic risk is the introduction by the state of an emergency regime in a given territory, ”added Osadchy.
As Sergey Khestanov, adviser on macroeconomics to the general director of Otkritie-Investments, noted, in the face of any legal uncertainty, banks act formally, because they do not want to worsen their situation with their own hands. In his opinion, until the state bodies from above make a decision on this problem, one should not expect any easing from banks.
Chairman of the Board of the International Confederation of Consumer Societies (ConfOP) Dmitry Yanin supported the idea of the ARB, but with significant reservations. He recalled that during the pandemic, only 5% of applied borrowers received credit holidays. Most of them were either refused or agreed to a debt restructuring. “The Central Bank does not allow banks to take into account the fall in income of a household (family) as a criterion for deferment, only the fall in the income of a particular borrower is taken into account. Yes, and the delay helps a little. It’s time to radically improve the law “On Consumer Credit,” Yanin concluded.
Newspaper headline:
“It’s time to improve the law on consumer credit”
[ad_2]
Source link
