Department of Market Access and Activity Termination of Financial Institutions

The Department of Market Access and Activity Termination of Financial Institutions was established on 1 February 2017 through the reorganisation of two structural units of the Bank of Russia, namely the Credit Institutions Licensing and Financial Rehabilitation Department and the Financial Market Access Department.

The Department concentrates the functions of the Bank of Russia’s regional branches related to the admission of credit institutions to the financial market.

The Department structure comprises the Western Market Access Centre (Saint Petersburg) and the Eastern Market Access Centre (Yekaterinburg) which are the single ‘entry points’ for market participants to submit their documents and receive consultations. The single-contact principle for obtaining access to the financial market is being implemented all over the Russian Federation, which enhances the quality and efficiency of the Bank of Russia’s work.

The Department also performs the Bank of Russia’s functions related to the termination of financial institutions’ activities in the financial market, including the coordination and control of the work of provisional administrations appointed after the revocation of licences from credit institutions, and control over liquidation procedures.

In order to perform these functions, the Department:

• is engaged in the enhancement of the legal and regulatory framework and the practical implementation of the relevant measures, including those aimed at reducing legal and procedural burden on the financial market, and in the digitisation of business processes;
• monitors compliance with the requirements for the qualification and business reputation of the management of credit institutions, non-governmental pension funds, management companies, insurers, microfinance organisations, and other entities stipulated by Russian laws;
• keeps the state registers of credit institutions and non-governmental pension funds, registers of non-bank financial institutions, and databases on persons involved in damaging financial standing or breaching Russian laws and Bank of Russia regulations;
• publishes statistics on the number of financial market participants on the Bank of Russia website;
• carries out accreditation of the representative offices of foreign credit institutions in the Russian Federation.

The Department structure comprises the front office of the Bank of Russia’s Commission reviewing complaints about the Bank of Russia’s decisions on non-compliance with the qualification and/or business reputation requirements.

The Department communicates with the Federal Tax Service, the Pension Fund, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and the State Corporation Deposit Insurance Agency. It also represents the interests of the Bank of Russia in judicial authorities in the course of proceedings on the liquidation (bankruptcy) of financial institutions after the revocation (cancellation) of their licences.