Rosfinmonitoring has proposed amendments providing for out-of-court blocking of operations on bank accounts and cards of Russians for up to 10 days. The document was published on the portal of regulatory legal acts.

The initiative is amending several Russian laws in the “part of countering the financing of terrorism or other unlawful acts”. According to the bill, the authorities will temporarily block transactions on accounts and cards if they suspect that the money can be used to:

• financing of terrorist activities;
• financing extremist activities;
• financing the organization and holding “public events in violation of the established order, which may lead to riots”;
• drug trafficking.

The explanatory note notes that the decision on blocking will be made by the heads of Rosfinmonitoring, the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the FSB, and only “in urgent cases.” At the same time, the information on the basis of which the accounts will be blocked must be “sufficient, previously confirmed and documented.”

Within a day, the departments will be required to notify the Prosecutor General’s Office of the decision, and that, in turn, can appeal it in case of violations of the law.

The blocking period can be extended, but already on the basis of a court decision.

“The adoption of the project will create an effective mechanism for ensuring the security of the state, protecting the interests of society and citizens in case of using financial instruments for illegal purposes,” the explanatory note says.

(C)MEDUZA 2021