Instruction of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation 181 and brief. Analytics analytical reviews
In November 2017, two regulations were published that significantly corrected the mechanism of banking currency control. The first of them is Bank of Russia Instruction No. 181-I, which will need to be followed from 01/01/2018 for accounting and reporting on foreign exchange transactions(hereinafter - Instruction No. 181-I). The instruction is designed to mitigate currency control by reducing the burden on residents. The second act, on the contrary, is aimed at strengthening currency control. This is Federal Law No. 325-FZ, which, after coming into force on May 14, 2018, will allow banks to respond to any violations of currency legislation, and also differentiates administrative responsibility in this area.
Main changes in reporting
The most noticeable innovation is that from 01/01/2018 it will not be necessary to issue a transaction passport. Instead, banks will put contracts on record. But in fact, this is only a formal change. Currency control will not disappear, only reporting documents will be drawn up in a new way: not a resident, but a bank will record the information necessary for accounting.
To do this, it will be enough for the bank to provide a contract (or an extract from it) and other information necessary for drawing up an internal control sheet. An export contract can be registered on the basis of information about it alone, but later the document itself will still have to be submitted to the bank.
From 2018, it will also not be necessary to draw up and submit to the bank a certificate of foreign exchange transactions. As a single form of accounting and reporting on foreign exchange transactions of a resident, only a certificate of supporting documents, which is also provided for by the current regulation, will be used; only its shape will change.
A more significant and expected innovation is an increase in the threshold of obligations in foreign currency, after which it is necessary to put the contract on record. The threshold will increase only for export transactions and will amount to 6 million rubles, which at the moment, in the equivalent, is approximately twice the threshold, upon reaching which it is necessary to issue a transaction passport (the equivalent of 50 thousand US dollars).
For import contracts and loan agreements, the threshold will remain approximately the same - 3 million rubles, which at the current exchange rate is equivalent to almost 50 thousand US dollars.
The changes will also affect transactions, for which currency control will be carried out in a simplified manner - without the need to provide the bank with documents related to the transaction. According to Instruction No. 181-I, such transactions will include agreements concluded between residents and non-residents, the amount of obligations under which does not exceed 200 thousand rubles, which at the current exchange rate is three times more than the current threshold of 1 thousand dollars USA. For such transactions, when crediting foreign currency to a resident's transit currency account or debiting foreign currency from a current account to a bank, it will be sufficient to provide only information about the transaction type code.
Positive points
Instruction No. 181-I will reduce the number of grounds for bringing a resident to administrative responsibility. Since from 01.01.2018 the accounting procedure will be processed by banks, the resident will only need to provide all Required documents. The negative consequences associated with the mistakes that were made in the preparation of transaction passports will no longer occur.
Raising the commitment thresholds for transactions that will be monitored in a simplified manner will save time and money on a much larger number of transactions than now.
In addition, it will be possible to go through the formal procedures associated with the registration of transactions faster. According to the current rules, the bank accepts and issues a transaction passport within three days. According to Instruction No. 181-I, the bank will be obliged to register the transaction no later than the next business day after the resident has provided the documents necessary for this.
All this should increase the efficiency of foreign economic activity of residents.
Consequences of violations
Instruction No. 181-I does not provide for grounds on which a bank may refuse to register a contract. If the resident has provided all the necessary documents for this, the bank is obliged to register the transaction and draw up an internal control sheet.
This does not mean that banks will lose the ability to counter illegal foreign exchange transactions. Now, if a resident has provided reliable documents, the bank may refuse to conduct a foreign exchange transaction only if it has suspicions that the transaction is being carried out in order to legalize criminal proceeds or finance terrorism.
But as of May 14, 2018, Law No. 325-FZ will give banks the authority to block a currency transaction if it violates the provisions of any of the currency regulation acts. Also, the bank will refuse a foreign exchange transaction if it is provided with documents that do not meet the requirements of the law.
As one of these requirements, Law No. 325-FZ establishes that contracts concluded in the course of foreign trade activities between a resident and a non-resident, from May 14, 2018, must necessarily provide for the deadlines for the parties to fulfill their obligations. Failure to comply with this requirement will indicate that the foreign trade transaction will not be concluded.
In addition, Law No. 325-FZ will introduce into the Code Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses Changes that will make it possible to bring officials to administrative responsibility for illegal currency transactions and violation of the procedure for repatriation Money. The size of the administrative fine for them will be from 20 thousand to 30 thousand rubles. Repeated violation of currency requirements will threaten the official with disqualification.
Transition period
Passports of transactions that clients do not have time to close before 01/01/2018 will be automatically closed without a bank mark about their closure, and the corresponding contracts will be registered in accordance with Instruction No. 181-I.
The same will happen with a contract under which the bank, as of 01/01/2018, will not have time to make a decision on issuing a transaction passport: such a contract will be registered under the new rules based on documents already received and the resident will not need to contact the bank again.
Certificates of supporting documents and materials attached to them that have not been verified as of 01.01.2018 will not be returned if they are sufficient for acceptance by the bank in accordance with the new rules.
Thus, from January 1, 2018, Instruction No. 181-I will apply to all transactions and foreign exchange operations.
Bank of Russia Instruction No. 181-I dated August 16, 2017 "On the procedure for residents and non-residents to submit supporting documents and information to authorized banks when carrying out foreign exchange transactions, on uniform forms of accounting and reporting on foreign exchange transactions, the procedure and terms for their submission" // Bulletin of the Bank Russia", No. 96-97, 11/16/2017.
Federal Law No. 325-FZ of November 14, 2017 "On Amendments to Articles 19 and 23 federal law"On currency regulation and currency control" and the Code of the Russian Federation on administrative offenses "(hereinafter - Law No. 325-FZ).
See paragraph four of Part 5 of Art. 23 of the Federal Law of December 10, 2003 No. 173-FZ "On Currency Regulation and Currency Control", as amended, effective until January 1, 2018, as well as clause 11 of Art. 7 of the Federal Law of August 7, 2001 No. 115-FZ "On counteracting the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism".
See paragraph 1 of Art. 432 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
See parts 1, 4, 4.1, 5 and 5.1 of Art. 15.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation as amended by Law No. 325-FZ.
New in currency control in 2018 New Instructions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation 181-I “On the Procedure for Submitting Supporting Documents by Residents and Non-Residents to Authorized Banks...”
In March 2018, it is planned to change the procedure for the interaction of residents and non-residents with banks when carrying out foreign exchange transactions.
The Bank of Russia posted on its website Bank of Russia Instruction No. 181-I, dated August 16, 2017, “On the Procedure for Residents and Non-Residents to Submit Documents to Authorized Banks...” (effective from March 1, 2018).
The explanatory note to the Instruction states that the document is aimed at liberalizing the current requirements of currency control, in terms of reducing the burden on residents when they perform foreign exchange transactions.
Company more will not submit to the bank a Certificate of foreign exchange transactions nor when crediting foreign currency to a transit account,nor when debiting foreign currency from your current account.
Instruction 181-I cancels the requirement for residents to issue a Transaction Passport in an authorized bank. Transaction passport in the form of a familiar document alsoceases to exist.The document flow between the company and the bank in terms of foreign exchange transactions is simplified. To carry out foreign exchange transactions, as before, it is necessary to provide the bank with the underlying contract, it is registered by the bank with assignment to itunique number. That is, instead of the requirement to issue a transaction passport, the Procedure for registering contracts with banks with the assignment of unique numbers to them is introduced.
In Instruction 181-I, instead of the term “PS Bank” (bank of the transaction passport), which Instruction No. 138-I operated on, the term “MC Bank” is used - apparently, this is an abbreviation for contract bank.
For resident exporters installed simplified procedure for registration of contracts. Registration of contracts by banks is carried out within one working day. The new procedure eliminates the grounds for a bank to refuse to register a contract. The value of the amount of obligations has been increased, at which registration under foreign trade export contracts is required up to 6 million rubles (approximately $100,000). Currently, in accordance with the Bank of Russia Instruction No. 138-I dated 04.06.2012 “On the procedure for residents and non-residents to submit to authorized banks documents and information related to the conduct of foreign exchange transactions, the procedure for issuing transaction passports, as well as the procedure for accounting by authorized banks of foreign exchange transactions and the value of the amount of obligations, at which a resident needs to issue a transaction passport under a foreign trade contract in an authorized bank, is 50 thousand US dollars.
Simultaneously with the registration of the contract, the bank forms bank control sheet(This type of document does not disappear anywhere - the bank, by law, must control foreign exchange transactions). The list of data on foreign exchange transactions, which must be made available to the bank, is presented in the appendix to the draft new Instruction. If the contract lacks some information necessary for the correct completion of the bank control sheet, the UK bank requests additional information from the exporter or importer.
After full fulfillment of obligations under the contract, the exporter (importer) submits to the bank an application for cancellation of the contract. In the same way, a corresponding application (on making changes to the bank control sheet) is submitted to the bank when changes or additions are made to the contract, plus the documents themselves confirming the need for changes, for example, an additional agreement to the contract.
When fulfilling, changing or terminating obligations under the contract, the company will still have to submit to the bank a Certificate of supporting documents and these documents themselves.
Because the concept of a transaction passport will not exist from 03/01/2018, respectively, banks will not send e-passport customs transactions.
A separate chapter of the draft Instruction 181-I is devoted to the peculiarities of the bank's accounting for operations carried out using letter of credit form of payment or bank payment obligations. Companies that carry out foreign exchange transactions will have to assign the transaction a currency transaction type code.
The general conclusion from all the innovations is that although currency control will not be simplified, the mechanism of interaction between companies and banks will become simpler. In addition, any grounds for the bank's refusal to register the contract are excluded.
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All changes in the legislation on currency control, the text of the New Instruction 181-I, and comments on current innovations can be obtained at a seminar in St. Petersburg:
Effective March 01, 2018 new instruction Bank of Russia dated August 16, 2017 No. “On the procedure for residents and non-residents to submit supporting documents and information to authorized banks when carrying out foreign exchange transactions, on uniform forms of accounting and reporting on foreign exchange transactions, the procedure and terms for their submission”, which cancels Instruction No., contributing to liberalization the current requirements of currency control in terms of reducing the burden on residents when they perform foreign exchange transactions.
The Bank of Russia notes that the introduction of Instruction 181-I instead of 138-I will reduce the burden on residents in terms of processing currency control documents, which will help reduce the grounds for bringing residents to administrative responsibility, simplify the mechanism for interaction between residents and banks, and increase the efficiency of residents -exporters, redistributes the load in terms of currency control from residents to authorized banks.
