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Currency control will become more efficient in Russia
Practical Law UK Legal Update 9-504-0082 (Approx. 2 pages)
Currency control will become more efficient in Russia
by White & Case LLP
| Published on 30 Nov 2010 • Russian Federation |
This article is part of the PLC Global Finance November 2010 e-mail update for the Russian Federation.
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On 15 November 2010, the President signed Federal Law No. 294-FZ on amending the Banking Law and the Currency Control Law. The Law will enter into force on 18 February 2011.
On 15 November 2010, the President signed Federal Law No. 294-FZ on amending the Banking Law and the Currency Control Law. The Law will enter into force on 18 February 2011.
The amendments seek to increase the efficiency of currency control in Russia by improving the exchange of information among the entities exercising such control.
According to the amendments, tax and customs authorities may request Russian banks to share copies of documents they have needed for investigating of breaches of currency regulations. The documents that may be requested are listed in the law and include, among others, contracts underlying currency operations, bank control sheets, bank statements, transaction passports and customs declarations. Banks are allowed at least seven business days to provide the documents.
Russian banks, in turn, may request information from:
- The Federal Customs Service on whether the data contained in the customs declarations they have correspond to the data kept by the customs authorities.
- Tthe Federal Tax Service on whether the tax authorities were notified on the opening of residents' bank accounts abroad.The banks' requests are to be responded to within 14 business days.
The amendments expressly provide that the above exchange of documents and information among currency control agents (for example; banks, tax and customs authorities) is not regarded as a breach of commercial, banking, tax or official secrecy. A similar rule is set forth for the exchange of documents and information among currency control bodies (for example; the Central Bank and the Federal Service on Finance and Budget Supervision), as well as among currency control agents and currency control bodies.