Russian, Belarusian central banks sign agreement to cooperate on oversight of payment systems

MINSK. Sept 19 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) and Central Bank of Russia (CBR) have signed an agreement on cooperation in the area of oversight over payment systems.

The agreement, posted on Belarus's national legal website, was signed with the aim of harmonizing approaches to oversight, regulation of cross-border money transfers, and improving the quality and security of payment services, including prevention of unauthorized money transfers.

The agreement is also aimed at fostering ethical competition and protecting consumer rights.

The agreement calls for the central banks to share a broad range of date. They will notify one another about the appearance of new payment systems and payment market participants, the results of monitoring the activities of payment market participants, and the results of self-assessments (assessments) of payment systems and/or payment market participants for compliance with principles for financial market infrastructure.

They will also share information about risks in the activities of payment market participants and the operations of payment systems, and about the identification of organizations that unlawfully provide payment services or participate in the provision of payment services in Belarus and Russia.