New cooperation agreement struck by Bank of Russia and Federal Antimonopoly Service

The document signed on 8 June 2017 assumes the two parties’ cooperation on the compliance of all financial organisations supervised by the Bank of Russia with antimonopoly legislation. Previously, the joint activities of the Bank of Russia and the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) had been governed by an agreement concerning exclusively credit institutions.

Specifically, the new document provides for information exchange between head offices and regional establishments of the mega-regulator and the antimonopoly agency. Potential signs of violation of antimonopoly and sectoral legislation by banks and non-banks, payment system operators, payment infrastructure service operators, and self-regulatory organisations in the financial market will form the focus of collaboration. The Bank of Russia and the FAS will continue to jointly consider cases of violation of antimonopoly legislation by such organisations.

The agreement also implies joint consultations, conferences and seminars, and participation in drafting normative acts.

The document was signed during the implementation of the Competition Development in the Financial Services Market roadmap, thereby enabling more effective collaboration between the Bank of Russia and the FAS on these issues. The mega-regulator views competition development in the financial services market as one of its priorities.