Marketplace to become open to small and medium-sized enterprises
A draft law submitted to the State Duma will empower legal entities to use this financial platform.
Under current legislation, financial platform services are only for individuals. The Marketplace system includes three platforms in operation: Financial Services (where consumers can open a deposit account and buy an OSAGO policy), VTB Registrar (offering OTC government bonds) and INFINITUM Asset Services (offering unit investment fund units).
Demand for remote financial services however also exists among legal entities, which are chiefly interested in loans. Once the draft law has passed, the integrated online platform will enable legal entities to compare and pick the best offers by multiple banks, as well as make transactions regardless of their place of residence.
The regulatory innovation is intended to widen the range of products and services financial platforms offer, encourage competition and take remote financial services to a new level.
The Bank of Russia launched the Marketplace project in 2017, aiming to create regulatory conditions for remote sales of financial products nation-wide.