List of entities with detected signs of illegal activities in the financial market

The Bank of Russia detects entities and internet projects with signs of illegal activities using information from a specialised monitoring system, as well as based on consumers’ and firms’ complaints.

In order to reduce the risks of consumer’ and firms’ involvement in illicit activities, the Bank of Russia discloses the list¹ of entities with signs of financial pyramids², illegal creditors³, and illegal professional securities market participants⁴ (including illegal forex dealers). The list does not contain any data on individuals or individual entrepreneurs.

To be authorised to provide the majority of financial services in the Russian Federation, a market participant must be licensed by the Bank of Russia or put on the regulator’s register. This information can be verified in the Directory of Financial Institutions. If an entity is not in the Directory, it is most probably acting illegally and consumers might be deceived.

To deter unlawful financial activities, the Bank of Russia takes measures to block such entities’ websites as well as cooperates with law enforcement and other authorised agencies and with foreign regulators to implement other measures.

An entity put on the list has the right to challenge this.

Please be informed that Russian laws do not provide for any payments to be made by the Bank of Russia to the victims of illegal market participants or for the regulator’s direct intervention in civil law relations between illegal financial service providers and their customers.

¹ The list is based on the Bank of Russia’s data as of 1 January 2020 as well as the data on entities detected earlier but still active. When clicking the list, the date is available when the information was uploaded to the website.
² Activities are provided to raise funds or other contributions when returns or other benefits are paid out from the funds or contributions raised whereas no investment activities and/or any other legal business or other activities associated with using the funds and/or other contributions raised, the liability for which is established by Article 14.62 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences and Article 172.2 or 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
³ Entities whose activities have signs of professional activities for issuing consumer loans/microloans that are not entitled to provide such activities.
⁴ Entities whose activities have signs of provision of financial services in the Russian Federation envisaged by Federal Law No. 39-FZ, dated 22 April 1996, ‘On the Securities Market’ that do not have an appropriate authorisation from the Bank of Russia.