Russian Central Bank sends order to subsidiaries of European banks in Russia prohibiting them from refusing currency transfers

MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia notes the Russian subsidiaries of foreign banks pressuring clients against amid business curtailment in the Russia, and has sent them an order prohibiting them from refusing currency transfers, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said during a press conference on Friday.

"As for the activities of Russian subsidiaries of foreign banks, yes, indeed, we see pressure. We believe that the segregation that is being proposed is unacceptable," Nabiullina said.

"We recently sent the subsidiaries of European banks in Russia an order prohibiting them from refusing to carry out transfers in foreign currencies or creating technical obstacles to such transfers based on approaches that do not comply with Russian law," Nabiullina added.

"We have also prohibited the banks from transferring information about the banks' clients, including personal data, to parent organizations or other members of the foreign banking group to form any lists or white lists. The only exception is information without which it is impossible to carry out a payment," Nabiullina said.

Raiffeisenbank Russia halted outgoing cross-border foreign currency transfers for individuals from September 2 in line with recommendations by the European Central Bank to the Russian bank's parent Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI). Outbound cross-border transfers in any foreign currency are no longer be available to all bank clients, except for a limited number of corporate clients in large and international businesses. This restriction was implemented following a decision by the RBI Group in response to an ECB directive.

The European Central Bank this year ordered several European banks doing business in Russia to reduce their presence in the country. Raiffeisen Bank International AG was asked to reduce its loan portfolio in Russia by 65%, that is, significantly more than the bank itself had planned, Bloomberg said. RBI expected implementation of a new plan to scale back business in Russia to begin in the third quarter, its CEO said in May. UniCredit received a similar order, but did not disclose targets.