Using this service, citizens will be able to anonymously send information, including confirming documents, about effective powers of attorney, trust management agreements, kinship relations, misuse of power, and other data proving that entities can informally influence key decisions made in a financial institution.

As such applications will be anonymous, the Bank of Russia is not required to answer them. The regulator will verify the information obtained and, if it is confirmed, will use it in accordance with law to put such entities on the list of those controlling a financial institution’s operations.

‘The identification of the secret owners of financial institutions will enhance transparency and confidence in the market. If the actual owners of financial institutions conceal their control over operations, this might suggest that they do not seek to develop long-term and steady business,’ noted Lyudmila Tyazhelnikova, Director of the Department for Market Access and Activity Termination of Financial Institutions.

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