On 31 January 2011, the Central Bank issued Directive No. 2573-U regarding mandatory reserves required for various obligations of credit organisations. The Directive entered into force on 31 January 2011.

According to the Directive, starting from 1 February 2011 mandatory reserves for a credit organisation's obligations (in rubles or foreign currencies) are:

On 29 December 2010, the Central Bank issued Directives Nos. 2556-U and 2557-U, amending its Regulation No. 258-P and Instruction No. 117-I regarding submission by residents to authorised Russian banks of documents under currency operations. The Directives will enter into force on 27 February 2011.

The amendments allow Russian companies not to file a transaction passport for a foreign trade contract worth not more than the equivalent of USD 50,000 (as opposed to USD 5,000 previously). Transaction passports filed previously may be closed if a foreign trade contract's value does not exceed the new threshold as of the effective date.

The amendments also extend the term for submitting documents, providing that a Russian company must submit a currency certificate and documents underlying a currency operation to an authorised Russian bank within 15 business days of foreign currency being credited to its bank account (as opposed to 7 days before).

On 7 February 2011, the President signed Federal Law No. 7-FZ "on clearing and clearing activity." The Law will enter into force on 1 January 2012.

The Law establishes a unified legal framework for clearing activities and is expected to contribute to development of the financial market in Russia. It targets clearing for various obligations, such as those with respect to monetary funds or securities.

Clearing services (for example, defining contractual obligations subject to execution, including as a result of netting, and preparing documents/ information underlying termination/ execution of such obligations) are to be rendered by licensed clearing organisations. The Law sets out a number of requirements to be met by clearing organisations and "central counterparties" that may take part in clearing, and provides a number of guarantees and risk management tools for ensuring effectiveness of the clearing system.

On 7 February 2011, the President signed Federal Law No. 8-FZ amending the Securities Market Law, the Bankruptcy Law and certain other legislative acts in connection with the Law on Clearing. The Law entered into force on 11 February 2011 (save for a few provisions that will enter into force on the different dates: in particular, the rules allowing close-out netting will enter into force on 11 August 2011).

The Law introduces, among other things, the possibility of close-out (liquidation) netting in bankruptcy under derivative, repo or other transactions with respect to securities or foreign currency. Close-out netting arrangements will be recognised provided, in particular, that the transactions: