19/03/2024, Alexander Linnikov participated in the discussion of the position of the Bank of Russia in relation to possible unfair practices in the payment services market in the light of the recent revocation of the license from QIWI Bank on the air of the RBC channel “DAY”.
“The Bank of Russia is one of the central elements of the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing system, and thus it performs an important and socially significant function. Therefore, the Central Bank’s activities in this important area will continue. Depending on what issues are on the agenda, whether it is fraud or illegal transfer of funds to underground online casinos, the Bank of Russia will continue to work to identify and suppress such payments. It is encouraging to see that this time the Bank of Russia is consciously engaging in meaningful and quite friendly communication with market participants. The Central Bank has a very rich arsenal of tools for supervisory influence on banks: from fines and restrictions on activities to an extreme measure of influence — revocation of a license. I doubt that the revocation of licenses threatens any of the 30 largest players in our market, however, this is a warning to everyone else, and the most striking warning was, of course, the revocation of the license from QIWI bank, which, according to the Central Bank, was involved in making illegal payments, including to online casinos, and this It is a very socially sensitive topic. You probably remember the beginning of the fight against gambling in our country at the turn of 2007-2008. We now see the same thing not in the offline segment, but in the online segment, and the Bank of Russia plays a significant role in this activity,” says Alexander Linnikov and adds: “Legal regulation and law enforcement practice always follow in the wake of the development of real public relations, and the activities of the regulator are often based on a catch—up principle. A new scheme is emerging that causes illegal or socially significant negative consequences, and we need to start fighting it. The Bank of Russia and law enforcement agencies are taking appropriate measures. If we talk about the flow of “gray” and “black” payments or fraud using high technologies, then the degree of latency of such crimes is very high, and this is recognized by law enforcement representatives in expert forums. It is also known that the percentage of satisfaction of damage caused by such crimes is insignificant. How to calculate the “gray” and “black” market? It is almost impossible to do this. Latency is high, therefore it is necessary to take measures to identify and suppress such phenomena, and as we see, measures are being taken both at the legislative and law enforcement level, as well as in terms of maintaining communication and communication with the market.”
