CBR working out rules for dividend payments by SAR residents on shares held in foreign infrastructure
MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is drafting a regulation on dividend payments by international companies (IC) that are residents of Russian special administrative regions (SAR) on shares held in accounts of a foreign nominal holder, a foreign registrar or depositary receipt programs.
The draft regulation, posted on the CBR's website, stipulates that, in order to launch the process of paying dividends on securities held in such accounts, an IC will be required to ask its registrar for a list of persons who have a right to receive payment.
The registrar will then ask foreign nominal holders and registrars for information that will make it possible to identify those who have a right to dividends and payments on depositary receipts, including information about citizenship or country of registration, as well as information about whether the recipient is an "unfriendly" person or entity under presidential decrees, and so on.
The draft regulation allows 50 working days to gather the information. The registrar will then have 10 working days to compile the list of recipients and give it to the IC, which will then have 30 working days to transfer the payments. This must be done taking into account current rules for settlements using C-type accounts. Payments can be made without C-type accounts with special permission from the CBR or the government commission for control over foreign investment in Russia, the draft said.
If the registrar does not receive the requested information, dividends will not be paid to the holders of the securities. But they will be able to receive them under the rules for paying unclaimed dividends if they provide the necessary information at a later date. They will have three years to file such a claim with the IC, as prescribed by the Russian law on joint-stock companies, or whatever period is stipulated by the foreign law that the IC continues to go by after moving to the SAR.