Bank of Russia Instruction No. 204-I

Bank of Russia Instruction No. 204-I “On Opening, Maintaining and Closing Bank Accounts and Deposit Accounts” sets common rules for all banks: which types of accounts exist, which documents a bank requests when opening an account, how the account is maintained and in which cases it is closed.

What it covers

• Types of accounts: settlement accounts of companies and sole proprietors, current accounts of individuals, correspondent accounts of banks, special bank accounts, savings and deposit accounts.
• Documents for opening an account: constitutional documents, information on the director and on the persons authorized to operate the account.
• How an account is maintained and closed, including at the bank’s initiative.

Foreign currency accounts are opened under the same rules as rouble accounts.

Where it comes up in an international payment

Every payment abroad starts with the account the money leaves from. If a company pays its supplier itself, it needs a foreign currency account at a bank that can send the right currency to the right country. The bank checks the client not only when opening the account but also throughout the relationship. Document requests and refusals to carry out transactions or to open accounts are based on Federal Law No. 115-FZ, so in practice the requirements of financial monitoring come on top of the rules of the instruction.

What to watch for

• Your account details in the agreement, the invoice and the payment documents must match the bank’s records.
• If the bank closes your account or refuses a transaction, ask for the grounds in writing: what to do next depends on them.
• A contract with a non-resident that reaches the threshold is registered with the bank where you hold your account. Those are the rules of Instruction No. 181-I.

To pay through an agent, you don’t need a separate foreign currency account. You transfer roubles from your settlement account at a Russian bank, and an agent from our pool sends the currency to the supplier. VEDmost does not open accounts for clients. How it works: Import payments.