Changing universal licence bank status before 1 January 2019

The Bank of Russia informs that banks with universal licences of which capital is as of 1 January 2018 less than 1 billion rubles but at least 300 million rubles have until 1 January 2019 to acquire¹ universal bank licence status or change their current status to that of non-bank credit institution or acquire microfinance company status.

This entails the need for such banks to complete appropriate corporate procedures, to prepare and submit to the Bank of Russia statutory packages of documents within a timeframe that enables the Federal Tax Service of Russia and the Bank of Russia to complete before 1 January 2019 (within statutory timeframes) procedures, in order to:

• enable the Bank of Russia to make the decision on state registration of charter amendments and submission of documents to the Federal Tax Service of Russia — to make a record of the state registration of amendments in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities
• to make a record in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities of the state registration of bank charter amendments resulting from the obtaining of basic licence bank status or from its status change, according to the above requirements of the Federal Law ‘On Banks and Banking Activities’.

Also, a lender is to submit to the Bank of Russia its business plan (changes to its business plan) resulting from its status change.² This business plan must be pre-approved by a shareholder meeting. Changes to a business plan are subject to approval at a bank’s shareholder meeting or by its board of directors (supervisory council).

Failure by a bank with a universal licence to comply with the requirements of the law shall result in Bank of Russia action against it as established by law.

The Bank of Russia requests credit institutions to consider the above circumstances in their operating activities in the remainder of 2018.

¹ In accordance with Part 3 Article 11² of Federal Law No. 395-1, dated 2 December 1990, ’On Banks and Banking Activity’.

² The business plan must be prepared in accordance with Bank of Russia Ordinance No.1176‑U, dated 05.07.2002, ‘On credit institutions’ business plans’ and Clause 15.3.5 of Instruction No. 135-I, dated 02.04.2010, ‘On the Procedure for the Bank of Russia to Make Decisions on the State Registration and Licensing of Credit Institutions’.

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