Partnership financing: new opportunities for market development
In the second reading, the State Duma adopted a draft law that initiates an experiment to promote the development of partnership financing in Russia. This experiment will take place from 1 September 2023 to 1 September 2025 in four pilot regions: Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chechnya, and Dagestan.
Partnership financing is commonly used in a number of countries around the world. It emphasises ethical and religious aspects by prohibiting the charging of interest on loans. Instead, participants share revenues and risks with investors and customers. Industries such as gambling, tobacco, alcohol, and weapons production will not have access to this type of financing.
Banks, financial institutions, and legal entities registered as consumer societies, funds, autonomous non-profit organisations, companies or partnerships will be able to offer partnership services. However, these organisations or their subsidiaries (internal structural units in the case of banks) have to be registered in the pilot regions. There are no such restrictions for customers who seek partnership financing services.
All participants in the experiment have to comply with law and regulations set by the Bank of Russia and be listed in a special register, which will be kept by the regulator.
The Bank of Russia aims to create a legal framework for introducing new products and services while also developing traditional financial markets. Partnership financing is currently possible but is often hindered by the lack of specific regulations. This partly explains the limited volume and geographical distribution of such financing.
The experiment will help assess the market participants’ interest in new financial instruments and improve the accessibility of services for Russian households as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. The development of partnership financing is outlined in the Russian Financial Market Development Programme for