Central Bank issues universal license to new Tochka Bank

MOSCOW. Feb 3 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia has issued a universal license to the new Tochka Bank LLC, according to information on the regulator's website.

The license gives the bank the right to conduct operations with funds in rubles and foreign currencies with the right to attract deposits from individuals, as well as operations with precious metals. The license will be issued after payment of charter capital. The lender's charter capital will amount to 3.6 billion rubles.

The bank's main focus will be to provide remote services and services to small and medium-sized businesses, the Central Bank said.

The eponymous Tochka project, only with a different legal structure in the form of a JSC, is managed by Trust Bank for non-core assets, the ultimate owner of which is the Central Bank.

The project does not have a license of its own, providing services on the basis of Otkritie Bank, which in December last year became part of VTB Group , and Qiwi Bank.

"We are interested in developing this asset and believe that getting a banking license will increase the value of this asset. We are planning to sell this asset and are in talks with investors, at the moment there are no decisions that we are ready to comment upon," Trust's press service has told Interfax.

The license will allow Tochka to open new accounts as early as H1 2023. It will operate as a separate entity, and Tochka JSC will continue its activities as a fintech project.