Why exchange rates in bank exchangers began to resemble the black market of currencies

What is not forbidden is allowed

The system of bank exchangers has turned, if very roughly, into a legalized scam. Well, or a black (but not hidden from anyone) currency market, to put it mildly. Suppose, wanting to buy dollars, you find out that the official exchange rate of the Central Bank is 58.45 rubles, and the exchange rate is 57.62. However, in any bank, even state-owned, even commercial, they will not sell them to you at such rates. The poisonous-purple neon numbers in exchange offices, fixing the requests of credit organizations, are ruthless: the average dollar selling rate is from 70 rubles today. Euro – from 68.

Another definition needs to be — “arbitrariness”. In the encyclopedic dictionary of Vladislav Bachinin, it is interpreted as follows: “an normative, destructive manifestations of state or private will that contradict the current legislation, infringe on the natural rights and freedoms of citizens and are assessed as facts of injustice.” But if you look at it, in the case of bank exchange rate formation, the situation is not so clear-cut, since we are talking about a new normality that is not regulated by anything or anyone.

Does a huge spread of 10-15 rubles (the difference between the buying and selling rate) contradict the current legislation? Once he contradicted, and then with a stretch, today – not at all. In 1998, at the time of a sharp devaluation of the national currency, the Central Bank issued an instruction according to which the maximum allowed spread was 15%. This made it possible to moderate the ardor of the bankers, who then tried to act in the same vein as their current colleagues, referring to the freedom of market trade. In 2004, the requirement was canceled, and in the fiery 2014, when the ruble collapsed due to post-Crimea sanctions, the Central Bank again thought about its return. But it didn’t happen.

Accordingly, no one — neither the Central Bank nor other departments — today it does not rebuke banks, does not intimidate, does not publish any restrictive documents. In their foreign exchange policy, they are free to do what they see fit: what is not prohibited is allowed. In an effort to get additional profit (nothing personal, just business), banks buy currency at the exchange rate, and sell it at their own. By the way, this sometimes hits the psyche hard, bifurcates consciousness: the layman begins to treat exchange and official quotes as values ​​far from market reality, while banking ones, on the contrary, are taken seriously.

It is pointless to talk about the unethical, injustice, destructive nature of what is happening, about the infringement of the rights and freedoms of citizens. Who cares about these moments, except for those who urgently needed to acquire a currency cache?

And one more important circumstance. The fact is that under the conditions of sanctions, the balance of supply and demand for cash currency began to differ sharply from the balance of supply and demand for non-cash currency. The March ban of the West on the import of dollars and euros into Russia remains in force, respectively, the owners – both individuals and credit institutions – are clearly in no hurry to part with these bills. Many banks have almost run out of inventories. By the way, for this reason, the Central Bank extended the restriction on the withdrawal of cash foreign currency until March 9, 2023: the limit remains at $10,000. In conditions of economic instability and geopolitical cataclysms, the value of cash (not necessarily dollars, euros or pounds sterling) and, of course, precious metals increases many times over, this is a universal timeless law.

In normal Russian practice, a spread in the range of 0.5% to 2% is considered normal, which varies depending on the sales channel, for example, Internet banking, ATMs, exchangers, as well as the balance of supply and demand. But during periods of worsening crisis, any bank uses the anxiety of the population to maximize its profits. And this is his individual market decision, where there can be no regulation, no obligations, no goodwill, where no arguments work. For example, on February 28, 2022, at the peak of the rush demand for foreign currency, the size of spreads in a number of banks reached 65-70 rubles: they bought a dollar for 85-90 rubles, and sold it for 150-160. Yes, formally, this is comparable to the black market, with the actions of currency changers in the days of the USSR: the exchange rate “with hands” could differ from the official one several times. Soviet legislation provided for the most severe punishments – from three years in prison to the death penalty, in accordance with Article 88 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. The degree of freedom that banks have today, the then currency speculators could only dream of.