ECHONOMICS: new opportunities to battle the legalization of illegal income

In early July, the President of the Russian Federation signed the law on consolidated supervision over the Russian banks, banking groups and bank holdings. The law enables the Central Bank of Russia to regulate and supervise in accordance with the international practice, and also opens possibilities to implement Basel-2 standards. A number of amendments deal with the business reputation requirements. Bank secrecy was discussed separately.

Expert’s commentary

Advocate Alexander Yevdokimov, Head of the Arbitration Court Practice of the Law Firm "YUST"

The legal act as a whole is rather large and touches upon several federal laws at once. The amendments are aimed at the fight against illegal (criminal) income, financing of terrorism and “one-day” firms. The bank secrecy provisions were the most noteworthy and caused the most discussion. The operative investigation bodies have now received the access to the information of bank accounts and deposits, including those opened by individuals. However, a court order is required for that, as is the case with telephone conversations. The experts in the sphere of financial activity in general see the law positively, but everything will depend on the way it is executed, especially in the area of the provisions that involve limitation of civil rights. For example, concerning the sphere of legal services, this may affect advocates, who render criminal procedure-related assistance to potential suspects under the respective cases.

The recording of the expert’s opinion is also available: Echo Moskvy, Echonomics, 24.07.2013 (on air on 19:45).