The Ministry of Finance proposed the concept of work of branches of foreign banks in Russia

A bill prepared by the Ministry of Finance with a concept for the operation of branches of foreign banks from friendly countries has been sent to the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Economic Development for approval. About this with reference to the document writes Interfax.

The agency notes that the bill proposes to limit the activities of branches mainly to work with legal entities: opening and maintaining accounts, transfers, collection, cash services.

Branches of foreign banks are not allowed to conduct transactions with individuals and individual entrepreneurs, with the exception of transfers without opening an account.

As for the securities market, branches will be able to conduct transactions with bonds of the Bank of Russia and federal loan bonds in rubles.

To work in Russia, a foreign bank will be required to obtain a license from the Central Bank, and a branch – accreditation, the agency specifies. To obtain a license, the bank must make a security deposit of 1 billion rubles. to a correspondent account, which corresponds to the minimum authorized capital of a bank with a universal license. It is assumed that the deposit may be in another currency, but the decision will be made by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank.

The bill also proposes to establish a mandatory exchange of information between the Central Bank and the regulator of the state where the foreign bank is located. In addition, the number of foreign employees in the branch should not exceed half. The document establishes requirements for the presence of a Russian site, placement of servers in Russia and other obligations.

The explanatory note to the bill clarifies that a foreign bank should not “be a person of a foreign state that commits unfriendly actions against Russian legal entities and individuals.”

In February 2023, Elvira Nabiullina, Chairman of the Bank of Russia, stated that the regulator was positive about the idea of ​​opening branches of foreign banks in the country, but with a limited range of operations. “First of all, branches that will carry out operations for settlements, for making payments, without attracting deposits from the population,” she said.

In May, on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, Central Bank Deputy Chairman Alexei Guznov confirmed that the bill was under development. “Work is underway, taking into account the fact that there is a model that allows insurance companies to do this, this is one approach. There are other suggestions. I hope that in the near future we will also have a public discussion,” he said. According to him, many countries are showing interest, and first of all, these are partners within the framework of the BRICS, the EAEU.