Page 65 - RusRPTDec18

corporate sector was close to zero.
The Central Bank of Russia is going to extend the practice of labeling to sites of trustworthy financial organizations. Now this practice applies only to the websites of microfinance organizations. This was told by the Head of the Central Bank Service for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Ensuring the Availability of Financial Services Mikhail Mamuta, reports RIA Novosti .
Russia’s central bank is considering asking banks and major companies to tell it in advance about foreign exchange deals that could affect the value of the rouble, three financial markets sources told Reuters. Some banks are resisting the proposal on the grounds that it could affect their own businesses and compromise client confidentiality, according to the sources, some of whom are involved in writing a new code of conduct for the forex market. A Russian finance ministry official denied the proposal would breach ethical standards, telling Reuters that banks would not need to disclose their clients’ names. The official and other sources all asked not to be identified because the issue is sensitive and no final decisions have yet been made. Rosneft famous nearly caused a crisis with a massive FX deal to finance a faux privatisation in 2016 that was actually a loan.
In August, amendments to the law on credit histories came into force, limiting the ways customers can consent to a credit check without visiting a bank. While this measure is justified by the need to increase cybersecurity, it will have the notable effect of limiting access to credit, especially for rural Russians who live far from a bank branch. As private consumption wanes with Russians bracing for next year’s VAT hike and pension reform, this move will certainly not counteract slowing economic growth. It also presents a curious case for Russia’s digital economy plans: the government is simultaneously rolling back digital services while pursuing a multi-billion-ruble initiative to expand them.
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has warned Russian banks of shady foreign currency cash operation ring, Vedomosti daily reported on November 28 citing the letter distributed by the regulator. Reportedly a group of people has been buying large amounts of FX cash using false identities (at least $100,000 per operation) regardless the exchange rate, with no subsequent re-selling. The operations have been carried out regularly, sometimes on a daily basis or several times a day. The operations are most likely feeding FX cash to illegal exchange points, that in turn can finance illegal and unregistered activities, as well as bribery, the CBR warns. Industry sources surveyed by Vedomosti believe that the cash is being bought by product wholesalers and markets, that used to buy currency from banks that were wiped out by the CBR clean-up drive. These operations migrated into illegal FX exchange points. Banking sources noted that the warning letter from the CBR has been taken seriously by the banking community, with most of the banks likely to impose additional scrutiny over identities of clients for cash operations.
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has opened a special office to investigate dodgy financial services designed to avoid taxes or rip off the public, the bank said on November 11. A document on the central bank’s website contains data for the first time on grey financial services in the first half of 2018. The leader among the shadow services is the wholesale and retail trade with a share of 33%. In second place was the construction sector with a share of 30%. Following is the service sector, which accounts for 21%. Much less demand for shadow financial services forms production (9%) and
65 RUSSIA Country Report December 2018 www.intellinews.com