Bank of Russia Instruction No. 181-I
A Bank of Russia instruction on which currency transaction documents and information residents submit to their bank, and how contracts are registered.
Bank of Russia Instruction No. 181-I of August 16, 2017 has been in force since March 1, 2018 and replaced the earlier Instruction No. 138-I. It sets out the details of Federal Law No. 173-FZ: what a resident reports to its bank about its currency transactions, when, and in what form.
The main change
The transaction passport was abolished. Instead, contracts above a threshold amount are registered with an authorized bank. The threshold differs for imports and exports and is set in the instruction itself. For a registered contract, the bank keeps a bank control statement that shows all payments and deliveries. The registration deadline is tied to the first transaction under the contract. More details: contract registration with the bank.
What the resident submits
- For a payment: the currency transaction code, which tells the bank what kind of payment it is. It is stated in the payment purpose or in a separate document.
- For a delivery: a statement of supporting documents, if the delivery is not confirmed by a customs declaration. For example, when goods are imported from a country of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) or services are rendered.
- For contract changes: the new amount, dates or parties.
What to watch for
Deadlines for submitting documents are short and are counted in business days from the date of the transaction or document. Missing them leads to fines under the Code of Administrative Offenses. A wrong transaction code leads to questions from the bank and a delayed payment. The instruction has been amended several times, so rely on the current version and on your bank’s requirements.
Paying through an agent
If you pay your supplier through an agent, the contract with the supplier remains yours. Which documents to submit, and to which bank, depends on the payment structure and on the agreement with the agent. In a deal through a broker, we put together the currency control package and explain what to submit and where. More details: Currency control.
This is a general overview. We decide on your deal after reviewing the documents.
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Describe the payment. We'll reply with a proposed route and terms. We name the agent in advance, and the rate and fee go into the payment order before your roubles are debited.