Vicious loan: Russia will tighten liability for illegal creditors
The Ministry of Finance has proposed to introduce direct criminal liability for organizations that issue loans without a license. Today, sanctions are applied only after a repeated fine, which, according to the Central Bank, makes the protective measure ineffective. Currently, there are over 95 illegal networks in the country (about 1,250 points). The Bank of Russia predicts their growth in 2026-2027. Due to the transition of microfinance institutions to biometric verification of borrowers, it will be more difficult for people with low credit ratings to obtain an official loan, and they risk falling into the hands of illegal immigrants. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
How will black creditors be punished
Criminal liability for illegal creditors, that is, those who issue loans without a license from the Central Bank, will be significantly tightened. Such a bill of the Ministry of Finance was approved by the government commission on legislative activity on Monday, March 2. This was reported to Izvestia by sources in the Cabinet of Ministers.
— Illegal lenders are organizations that are not included in the register of the Central Bank, they are not banks, microfinance organizations (MFOs), pawnshops or credit cooperatives, — said lawyer Georgy Trelsky. There are more than 95 networks of such underground lenders operating in Russia, including about 1,250 outlets across the country, the explanatory note says.
— Now, in order to open a criminal case, an illegal immigrant must first be punished with an "administrative penalty", and then wait for a repeat violation from the same person and only then proceed to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, — the expert noted.
The amendments are aimed at creating a stricter and more consistent two-tier system of responsibility for illegal activities in the consumer lending market, including mortgage-backed loans, Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association, told Izvestia.
— Criminal liability will occur in two cases, — he explained. — Firstly, if the activity of illegally issuing loans was carried out on a large scale, that is, the amount exceeds 3 million rubles, and regardless of the existence of a previous administrative penalty.
Also, the "criminal code" will be applied if an individual entrepreneur or the head of an organization has already been subjected to administrative punishment for a similar offense.
When using the administrative article, it is proposed to add the most important reservation: "if this activity does not contain signs of a criminally punishable act."
"The amendment explicitly states that if the violator's actions contain signs of a crime under the new version of Article 171.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — large size or repetition, then it is no longer possible to initiate an administrative offense case," said the chairman of the Board of the AYUR. — Materials should be submitted to law enforcement agencies to resolve the issue of criminal prosecution.
As explained to Izvestia in the press service of the Central Bank, after bringing illegal creditors to administrative responsibility, IP often changes, and new nominee directors are appointed to lead them.
"Thus, each time their story begins with a clean slate," the regulator stressed.
Because of this, the police had to start the punishment process from scratch every time, added George Trelsky. As a result, from 2022 to 2025, in Russia, with more than 1.3 thousand administrative cases, only two criminal cases reached the court.
The Central Bank supports amendments to the law.
"We believe that this approach will help in a more effective fight against illegal creditors," the press service added.
How illegal lenders work
The Bank of Russia identified more than 1.1 thousand illegal creditors in 2025, the regulator's press service reported. These are mostly pseudo pawnshops and chain commission stores, where loans are disguised as purchase, storage, or commission agreements. Illegals often work in a single network, but each individual office is registered with a different sole proprietor, which complicates their control.
The central bank identifies such structures, but these are only a small part of illegal creditors, said financial adviser and founder of the financial boutique Rodin.Capital Alexey Rodin. According to him, the real scale of this market may be much larger.
Last year, about 15% of bank clients and 24% of MFIs' clients were ready to turn to illegal creditors if they offered a rate 7% lower than the market rate, said Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global. About 17 million people, almost 12% of the Russian population, can potentially use the services of illegal immigrants.
"This highlights the seriousness of the situation and shows that the flow of customers can become massive," she said.
According to the law, any Russian or legal entity can lend money under a loan agreement, Natalia Milchakova recalled. In fact, any illegal creditor can now justify his work legally — he differs from bona fide creditors only in that his clients are out of sight of the Central Bank.
— The inevitable companions of illegal creditors are black collectors, openly criminal elements and structures, — Natalia Milchakova added.
The terms of their loans are opaque, the rates exceed legal limits, and the methods of collection include threats and withdrawal of collateral, the press service of the Central Bank recalled. The regulator receives complaints that illegal immigrants collect contact lists and personal data from social networks to exert psychological pressure on the borrower, and in case of non-payments, they send information about debts to his friends. Often, black creditors turn to more violent threats — for example, they promise to harm the debtor's loved ones or burn down the only housing.
The lack of specialists in economic crimes and mild sanctions make the activities of illegal creditors almost risk-free, Alexey Rodin noted. The amount of fines is lower than the profit they receive.
The current legislation is too loyal to illegal creditors, Natalia Milchakova confirmed.
"The initiative of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation seems not only timely, but even a little late," the expert said.
At the end of 2025, the Russian government approved a long-term plan to whitewash the economy, which should begin to be implemented in 2026, including the fight against illegal creditors. The main motive of the authorities is to prevent businesses from entering the gray zone against the background of this year's tax changes. The goal is to reduce the share of the shadow sector in the economy, which is estimated at 10-12% of GDP.
After the amendments are adopted, the leaders of the "black networks" will not be able to hide behind a formal change of directors if the scale of their business exceeds 3.5 million rubles, Georgy Trelsky is sure.
"A criminal sentence is a much more serious deterrent than a fine, which black creditors simply put into their profits," he noted.
However, illegal immigrants, the expert believes, may begin to split up amounts or transfer settlements to uncontrolled digital assets in order not to formally fall under the "large size".
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