President Vladimir Putin will give the order to the government to consider restricting travel abroad for managers of troubled banks. He stated this at a meeting with the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina told about bankers leaving the country after the withdrawal of Bank assets.
According to Nabiullina, often the reason for the collapse of banks are not economic, and criminal activity. She noted that there are unique occasions when we have, for example, some banks took money from the citizens and did not bring it in documents, that is, they were stealing at the time when taking money from citizens”, – said the President the head of the Central Bank, noting that only together with law enforcement can put such bankers obstacles. Chairman of the Bank of Russia noted that many cases when the bankers go abroad, where the withdrawn assets. “And these assets need to be returned — not only to punish them, but to return these assets. This, of course, difficult work”, — said Nabiullina. However, she pointed out the absurdity of the situation when citizens who don’t pay the utility bills on time or does not pay the fine from the traffic police, the road over the border closed, and “bankers with huge sums of debt safely go”.
In response, Vladimir Putin has noticed that these unscrupulous bankers better not release from Russia and promised to give the government and law enforcement agencies of the corresponding assignment. However, declared the President, limiting the state and society from any criminal manifestations”, you need to be very careful not to restrict people’s freedom.
For three years the regulator has withdrawn 279 licenses, including this year, 68 banks. “Fraud thrives, and its scale is very serious,” agrees Deputy Chairman of “URALSIB” Alexey Genus. From this point of view, according to the banker, an attempt to prohibit travel abroad to owners and top-managers of problem banks really looks like an attempt of the Central Bank to prosecute those who are unjustly enriched at the Bank bailouts. “This problem is very serious. We all know how many billions have to be spent on the Bank bailout, which the owners just left for the West,” he says.
At the same time participants of the market ambiguously estimate the harsh rhetoric of the Central Bank, fearing that restrictions can also apply to a bona fide bankers. A top Manager of a major Bank surprised the rhetoric about the “criminal bankers” is announced at such a high level. He noted that the regulator would have to develop a number of measures that would help prevent misappropriation of assets by unscrupulous bankers, and not to hold public discussions. “In the market and so very uncomfortable: profit falls, but risks all of the above. And here comes the threat, that if anything will be banned. I think that many normal financiers will think”,- says Alexey Gonus.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of MDM Bank Vyacheslav Vyugin did not rule out that the news of the impending tightening abroad will lead to the fact that the owners and executives of some troubled banks will decide quickly to get rid of dubious business. “Threats by the Central Bank may increase such unscrupulous bankers,” he says.
He recalled that the current procedure for liquidation of credit organizations looks like this: first, the Bank disables the Bank from system of Bank electronic urgent payments (BESP), then to the credit institution appointed a temporary administration. “At this point, a top Manager can freely travel abroad, as there is no judgment there, and all the restrictions we have based on enforcement proceedings,” said the banker. On the other hand, he says, if the Bank has serious problems, the controller is usually aware of them long before the revocation of the license. “Perhaps we should alert the guards, that they not released a certain number of persons associated in this Bank. But not understood how to do it legally,” says Vyugin.
However, from a legal point of view, the initiative of the Central Bank does not look Nuraliyeva. For example, the managing partner of “Yukov and partners” Andrey Yukov believes that the right to limit the travel of the bankers, the Central Bank may provide, by amending the law “On banks and banking activities”. “If these amendments are passed by Parliament, the controller may receive the same authority to travel abroad managers of troubled banks and the bailiffs,” he says. According to the lawyer, there is another possibility: for example, CB may be eligible to apply to the court with the request to limit departure of some top managers as an interim measure. Now to this practice, law enforcement authorities in the investigation of criminal cases.
Chairman of the Moscow Collegium of advocates “Alexander Tonkonog and partners” Alexander Tonkonog indicates that in this case, the Central Bank will simply duplicate the functions of the Ministry of internal Affairs and Prosecutor’s office, which is empowered to establish the fact of belonging of a citizen to commit a crime. “In addition, the Central Bank will still have to show some grounds for restricting the freedom of movement of a banker. Otherwise, the regulator can obtain from that person a claim because no one has cancelled the presumption of innocence,” – says the lawyer. In his opinion, the Central Bank will do a great technical job, changing Federal legislation.
However, as Alexander Tonkonog, even if the Central Bank and the Ministry of interior be able to make all necessary amendments to the Federal laws, then the strike will be the top managers of banks, not the shareholders. “To understand what is happening in a particular Bank regulator assesses the actions of the Executive authority, and only then on the basis of the findings of fact of the judge of involvement in the fraud, if it occurred, its owners. Without establishing the degree of involvement of the owner of the Bank to commit illegal acts, the Central Bank can’t restrict his travel abroad,” – said the lawyer.
Financial authorities are propose measures that would allow to detain at the border of the bankers Scam. In December 2015, the ACB said that it was necessary to inform law enforcement agencies about the planned revocation of the license, so they managed to initiate criminal proceedings. In January, DIA is also proposed to introduce the example of Turkey pre-trial ban on travel outside the country managers and owners of banks in respect of which the restrictions on the deposits.
The President of the Association of Russian banks Garegin Tosunyan sees the problem with Bank fraud in enhancing oversight. “We need to improve prudential supervision and not to ban managers of troubled banks to go abroad,” he says. In his opinion, if the Central Bank and law enforcement agencies there is no evidence of a crime, and the involvement of specific top-Manager or shareholder of the Bank, in this case, the restriction of travel “clearly is in conflict with the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens”.
The Central Bank and ASV at the time of publication did not provide comments.
