Russia Updates Cash Source Rules, Plans Anti-Money Laundering Law…

The Central Bank of Russia will update its recommendations to banks on identifying sources of cash and is preparing amendments to the anti-money laundering law. 'Work by banks to confirm the sources of origin of cash is something banks have always done.'

Consensus

• The Central Bank of Russia is updating recommendations for banks on verifying the sources of cash transactions.
• The Central Bank is preparing amendments to the anti-money laundering law (115-FZ).
• The Central Bank emphasizes that it opposes only the circulation of cash with unknown origins, not cash itself.
• The main risk identified is the use of credit institutions in laundering cash of unknown origin.
• The Central Bank references FATF guidance to strengthen compliance in businesses with high cash volumes.
• The updated recommendations will be detailed and cover various types of operations and legal entities.
• The changes to the anti-money laundering law are expected to be adopted by 2026.

Points of divergence

• The new recommendation will be 'very big, very detailed' and will include information on where funds of unknown origin come from, specifically mentioning Moscow's wholesale-retail markets and illegal crypto exchanges. — tg_astrapress
• The new methodological recommendations do not involve revolutionary changes and are based on existing practice; they will be comprehensive but not fundamentally new. — interfax
• The Central Bank expects that the phenomenon of unregulated crypto exchanges will disappear due to the implementation of the digital currencies law. — tg_astrapress
• The Central Bank official stated that the new recommendations are not revolutionary and are based on established practice. — interfax

Coverage (3 sources)

• Central Bank of Russia will update recommendations for banks on determining sources of cash and is preparing amendments to the anti-money laundering law — ASTRA
• Central Bank of Russia will update recommendations for banks on determining sources of cash — Интерфакс
• Central Bank may expand list of fraud indicators when withdrawing cash from ATMs — Интерфакс

Key entities

• Bank of Russia
• CB
• Moscow
• INTERFAX.RU
• Vadim Uvarov
• Financial Action Task Force
• Bogdana Shablya

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