The PSB proposed to review the CFA's role in business financing

Digital financial assets (CFAs) from an experimental investment tool will become an integral part of the Russian financial ecosystem. This opinion was expressed at the XXII International Banking Forum in Sochi by Senior Vice President, Head of the Small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) unit PSB Irina Zhimerina. She noted that banks should rethink their role in the new ecosystem of SME financing.

CFAs will require the participation of banks as financial engineers and trusted intermediaries, Zhimerina believes. "Traditional bank loans are no longer the main tool in the financing market, and the needs of small and medium—sized businesses require more flexibility, speed and simplicity of solutions," said Zhimerina.

She noted that the CFA provides entrepreneurs with additional opportunities to attract financing. The CFA market for small and medium-sized businesses is still being formed, the popularization of this instrument and the reduction of the Central Bank's key rate in the future will lead to an expansion of its use, the PSB is confident.

"The CFA market in Russia is at a turning point: on the one hand, it demonstrates the growth of the user base and the expansion of tools, on the other hand, it faces serious structural and regulatory constraints," Zhimerina added. In her opinion, the key points of growing interest in this instrument will be the removal of tax barriers, the development of the secondary market and integration with the traditional financial sector.

PSB believes that credit institutions can offer CFAs as a comprehensive service — customer consultations, issue structuring, placement through banking or partner platforms, custodial services and other services. Banks can also act as an underwriter of the issue, purchase the first tranche of the client's CFA, providing initial liquidity and signaling the quality of the asset to the market.

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