Agreement with regulator as opportunity to preserve business reputation
Over the past two years, the Bank of Russia has concluded 22 agreements with violators of the law on countering the misuse of insider information and market manipulation, against whom administrative proceedings have already been initiated.
The mechanism of concluding agreements with the regulator started operating in 2024. Its core principle is that an investor agrees to cooperate with the investigation and pay a certain amount to the state budget. In return, their case is closed, while the investor preserves their business reputation and continues operating in the financial market. To date, 17 private investors and five companies have opted for such an agreement with the regulator, with two more applications rejected.
When making its decision, the Bank of Russia assesses the severity of the offence, the violator’s willingness to explain the reasons behind and the context of the transactions with the signs of misuse of insider information and market manipulation, as well as to provide information about accomplices or other related illegal transactions. If approved, the party to the agreement is obliged to pay monetary compensation in the amount no less than the profit gained from the offence. On average, each private investor has paid around ₽200,000, while each company has paid ₽6.5 million.
Any failure to comply with the agreement terms is grounds for reopening the case and revoking the failing party’s right to conclude a new agreement.
This mechanism enables faster and less costly investigations into administrative cases related to the misuse of insider information and market manipulation, while also deterring misconduct in the financial market.