Russia proposes new rules for account blocking
A Russian labor union has proposed revising bank account blocking rules to improve transparency and fairness, suggesting a real-time risk monitoring system for individuals and self-employed people on the Federal Tax Service website.
Consensus
- The union 'Novy Trud' proposed revising rules for blocking bank accounts.
- The proposal includes creating a real-time risk monitoring system (a 'traffic light') for individuals and self-employed people.
- The system should be hosted on the Federal Tax Service (FNS) website.
- Clients should be able to see if they are in the 161-FZ database, who initiated the entry, when the appeal was submitted, and what needs to be corrected.
- Banks and the Central Bank need clearer methodological guidelines for risk assessment under 161-FZ.
- The goal is to prevent mass restrictions on honest clients during anti-money laundering efforts.
- Self-employed individuals and small businesses forced to work with monopolists or 'red zone' companies should be excluded from the risk zone.
- Risk scoring should not automatically worsen client status.
Points of divergence
- In the past year, 53,500 social media posts (a 93% increase) reported account blocking incidents. — vesti
- Over the past two years, 81,200 social media posts about account blocking were recorded, with 53,500 in the last year (a 93% increase), and 32,000 in the last six months (a 48.8% increase). — m24
- The most significant spikes in discussion occurred in August 2025 (+152.8%) and November 2025 (+54.1%). — m24
- Common client complaints include bank staff incompetence (24.3%), retention of personal funds (23.7%), long wait times without clear deadlines (22.5%), and inability to resolve issues remotely (16.0%). — vesti
- The 'Novy Trud' union cited a study by 'Pressindex' on 'Banks vs. People' to support the proposal. — m24
- The proposal includes a call for banks and financial institutions to use erroneous blocking cases to improve their decision-making algorithms. — tg_tass_agency
Coverage (4 sources)
- In Russia, proposed to review rules for blocking accounts — Коммерсантъ
- In Russia, rules for blocking accounts are proposed to be reviewed, report "Vedomosti". — ТАСС (Telegram)
- In Russia, proposed to review rules for blocking bank accounts — Вести
- In Russia, proposed to review rules for blocking bank accounts — Москва 24