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- Moment and reaction: banks have problems with currency control when making transfers through the SBP
Moment and reaction: banks have problems with currency control when making transfers through the SBP
Banks have difficulties with currency control when operating through the fast payment system. Mostly small players have problems, the Association of Russian Banks (ARB) has sent a letter about this to the Central Bank. Credit institutions do not have time to fulfill all the requirements of currency control, for example, to stop a payment or request the necessary documents. The situation has worsened due to the development of SBP transfers abroad. Since January, transactions to nine countries have already been possible, and control requirements have been tightened.
Which countries can I send money to using the SBP?
Banks do not have time to comply with the requirements of currency control when making transfers through the SBP. Due to the instantaneous execution of transactions, credit institutions are physically unable to stop transactions or request documents from the client, as required by law. This is stated in a letter from the ARB sent to the Central Bank (Izvestia has reviewed it).
As noted in the document, financial organizations have the right to request and receive documents and information related to currency transactions. At the same time, the federal law does not exclude transactions under the SBP. The fast payment service provides for performing operations around the clock and in real time, and processing should take seconds.
Currency control is the supervision of operations that are carried out in foreign economic activity. If a company makes settlements with a foreign counterparty, they will be checked for compliance with the law. It also covers transactions between residents of the Russian Federation in foreign currency, between non-residents in rubles, and any receipts of securities and currencies in the Russian Federation.
The association warns: this creates legal risks for credit institutions. The ARB told Izvestia that the request came from the banks themselves, who were unable to receive clarification from the regulator directly.
— When the system worked mainly within the country, this problem was not so critical. However, since January 2025, the SBP has already opened transfers to nine countries: Abkhazia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan," said Fyodor Sidorov, a private investor and founder of the School of Practical Investment.
According to him, banks are caught between a rock and an anvil: on the one hand, the requirement for instant execution of payments, on the other — the responsibility for high-quality currency control. At the same time, serious fines are provided for violations — from 20 to 100% of the transaction amount, he recalled.
Small banks face such difficulties more often because they have a worse automation of processes and it is more difficult for them to fulfill all the requirements.
In addition, the volume of transfers through the SBP has increased dramatically recently: in the second quarter of this year alone, more than 3 billion transactions worth 22 trillion rubles passed through the system. Also, since January 11, the updated rules of currency control have entered into force, which have established stricter requirements for banks, Fyodor Sidorov recalled.
What problems do banks have with currency control?
The Central Bank responded to the appeal that the control should be carried out by banks, regardless of the systems or methods of transferring funds. In case of cross-border transactions through the SBP, the client should be informed about the restrictions and a summary of the current measures should be posted in the payer's application, the regulator said.
"We recommend organizing a control system in a credit institution in such a way that the bank can make sure that the operation is allowed before the operation," the Central Bank said in its response.
Based on these words, it can be concluded that in fact the regulator has shifted the solution of the problem to financial institutions, this is a reasonable compromise, said Fyodor Sidorov. However, its execution will require serious refinement of banking systems, he believes.
All currency control procedures should be carried out before the payment is sent, and not during or after it is made, said Alexey Voylukov, MBA professor of business Practice in digital Finance at the Presidential Academy. That is, the bank has an obligation to request and verify documents certifying the nature of the transaction (for example, the existence of a foreign trade contract), he explained.
— The mechanism of currency control under the SBP is as follows: verification of the counterparty's data, the purpose of the payment, and analysis of the operation's compliance with the requirements of currency legislation. The service itself does not cancel or shorten these procedures — it's just that the transfer is performed instantly, so all control actions must be completed before the operation is launched," the expert said.
Since the SBP has been allowing transactions between legal entities since last year, it is precisely the situation when transactions take place without proper currency control, said Tatiana Belyanchikova, Associate Professor of the Department of Global Financial Markets and Fintech at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
Payers are responsible for their legality, but banks are required to verify transactions as agents of currency control, she said. The placement of warnings about punishment for illegal currency transactions in the application is necessary, but this is not enough, Tatyana Belyanchikova is sure. Perhaps transactions involving non-residents should be carried out bypassing the fast payment system.
Another solution to the problem is to release banks from liability, but this approach contradicts the very idea, since they are agents of currency control, she noted. The maximum that is possible in such a situation is to introduce a more thorough verification of operations after the fact. Then the authorities will report violations. Both options are not effective enough to solve problems related to illegal operations, the expert believes.
In some cases, this may threaten the economic security of the country, despite restrictions on the amount of transactions (a maximum of 1 million rubles per transaction). Therefore, the issue requires deep study with representatives of the business community, the Bank of Russia and the authorities, concluded Tatiana Belyanchikova.
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