New approaches to licensing professional securities market participants: statements from register replace hardcopy licences from 1 March

Starting from 1 March 2019, the issue of hardcopy permits (licences) to conduct professional activity in the securities market will be terminated. When the Bank of Russia makes a decision to issue a licence, an entry will be made in the register of professional securities market participants about the licence and the applicant. The applicant will be provided with an e-statement from said register. The legal value of statements from the register of professional securities market participants equals that of hardcopy licences issued by the Bank of Russia until 1 March 2019.

Professional securities market participants do not have to receive new licences in replacement of the hardcopy licences issued by the Bank of Russia until 1 March 2019.

Bank of Russia Instruction No. 192-I, dated 17 October 2018, ‘On the Procedure for the Bank of Russia to License the Types of Professional Activity in the Securities Market Specified in Articles 3–5, 7 and 8 of Federal Law No. 39-FZ, Dated 22 April 1996, ‘On the Securities Market’ and to Maintain the Register of Professional Securities Market Participants’ (effective since 1 March 2019) defines the changes in the effective procedure for licensing professional activity in the securities market and keeping the register of professional securities market participants.

The register of professional securities market participants is publicly available on the Bank of Russia website; the information it contains is unrestricted and open to all. Any stakeholder may consult the register of professional securities market participants or address the Bank of Russia to receive a statement from said register or a notification from the Bank of Russia that the register of professional securities market participants does not contain the requested data.

The Bank of Russia plans to apply this policy to all other licensed activities in the financial market.