Work on implementing Russia’s Forex law commences

LeapRate is keeping you up to date with all of the latest regulatory developments across the globe, with a piece of positive news coming from Russia these days. About a month and a half after Vladimir Putin signed the Forex law, the actual work on implementing all of the new rules has begun.

On February 13, 2015, representatives of the Bank of Russia and the country’s Forex self-regulatory body CRFIN held a meeting to discuss the Forex law. As you may recall, the first section of the document that guarantees investors the right of court protection has already come into force. The bulk of the regulatory provisions contained in the Law, however, will become effective on October 1, 2015, with many areas requiring further clarification.

These controversial areas include CFD trading, requirements for trading software, as well as maximum leverage size. Many, including CRFIN itself, believe that capping maximum leverage at 1:50 is too rigid – this was confirmed by a recent survey amid Russian Forex traders. It is in the powers of the Bank of Russia, which will be the state regulator of the Forex industry, to relax that limit.

At the meeting, both organizations have agreed to co-operate on the development of the standards of the SRO and the normative acts related to the Forex industry to be issued by the Central Bank of Russia. These documents are set to provide specific instructions on how to address the aforementioned problems.

In the face of the formal nature of the meeting, it bears its importance for the future of Russia’s Forex regulation, as collaboration between the state Forex regulator and the Forex SRO will be crucial for the FX market in the country. Membership in the Forex SRO will be compulsory for Forex brokers in Russia – companies that are not members of the single SRO will have to cease offering their services in the country not later than January 1, 2016.

You can view the official announcement by CRFIN on the meeting here.

To download the full version the Russian Forex law, click here.

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