Regulator reviews criteria of banks’ involvement in dubious transactions
A bank will be considered involved in dubious transactions with cash and non-cash funds if their volume exceeds 0.5 billion rubles per quarter. Currently, this threshold is 1 billion rubles. It was set in 2017. The Bank of Russia will apply the new criteria from 2021 Q2, according to the regulator’s information letter.
The amount of dubious transactions has been steadily declining over the last few years. Over five years (from 2016 through 2020), the amount of funds withdrawn abroad on dubious grounds has fallen fourfold to 52 billion rubles, and the volume of cash-out operations in the banking sector has dropped sevenfold to 78 billion rubles.
Currently, banks generally comply with the established thresholds. The introduction of the new criteria is aimed at stimulating banks to identify and prevent dubious transactions more scrupulously, as well as reducing their volume further. The regulator will continue to provide banks with any methodological aid they might require.