New law gives CBR power to allow banks to not disclose info on individual basis as of Jan 1

MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that will allow the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) to determine the list of information that given banks, non-credit financial institutions, professional market participants and payment system participants do not have to disclose on an individual basis starting January 1, 2026.

The law, which goes into effect on January 1, also extends a number of temporary CBR powers on the financial market until December 31, 2026.

Under current legislation, the CBR's board of directors can determine what information banks, non-credit financial institutions and participants of the national payment system have the right to not disclose or not provide until December 31, 2025. The CBR also has the right to decide what data is not subject to publication on its official website.

The new law specifies that CBR board decisions on nondisclosure of information can be made not only in regard to all financial market participants, but also on an individual basis.

"Based on experience of the application of the law, in the interests of flexible response to changing conditions, the bill supplements the authority of the Bank of Russia's board of directors to determine the list of regulated organizations' sensitive information with the ability to determine such lists on an individual basis," a memo attached to the amendments said.

The law also extends until December 31, 2026 provisions that prohibit Russian insurers from working with insurance and reinsurance companies and brokers from "unfriendly" countries or their subsidiaries, with the exception of transactions related to exports of food and fertilizer. However, the CBR can issue permission for other transactions.

The CBR's board has the right to determine what obligations of insurers are not transferred to the national reinsurance company and specify the list of auditing organizations' data that are not subject to disclosure.

Under current law, the CBR, in coordination with the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, determines who can use the digital ruble platform, what transactions are allowed and what their maximum amounts are until December 31, 2025. The new law signed by the president extends this provision until August 31, 2026.