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- Secrets of the material: the Federation Council supported the initiative on access to transfer data through the SBP
Secrets of the material: the Federation Council supported the initiative on access to transfer data through the SBP
The Federation Council Committee on Budget and Financial Markets approved Rosfinmonitoring's proposal to expand its access to information provided by the National Payment Card System (NSPK). Izvestia investigated how the new powers of Rosfinmonitoring may affect the effectiveness of detecting and preventing financial crimes, as well as whether there are risks to personal data and financial secrecy in connection with the expansion of information exchange.
Protection from criminals
The planned innovations are aimed at faster detecting and stopping suspicious financial transactions, Alexey Voylukov, MBA professor of business practice in digital finance at the Presidential Academy, told Izvestia. Extended access allows you to request information directly from the operator, who is responsible for processing card transfers and transactions through the Quick Payment System, including payments using QR codes.
Thanks to this, according to him, information exchange is much faster, and Rosfinmonitoring receives a complete and technically confirmed picture of money movements, both between different banks and within one client if he uses several credit institutions. As a result, analytics becomes easier and faster, and the available resources will be sufficient to handle a larger array of possible violations. This is critical for effectively countering money laundering and terrorist financing, where any delay worsens the outcome.
— The adjustments will take effect on September 1, 2026. By the specified date, it is necessary to implement technical updates from the NSPK and conduct internal training in Rosfinmonitoring, as well as conclude an appropriate agreement between these structures with the participation of the Bank of Russia. In fact, we are talking about the standard requirements that usually accompany the launch of new information exchange mechanisms," he believes.
Changing the system
The transition to Rosfinmonitoring's direct access to NSPK data streams is actually transforming the control model, Vyacheslav Mishchenko, a visiting lecturer at the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, noted in an interview with Izvestia. Instead of fragmented fragments, the regulator begins to work with an entire network of payments in almost real time. This helps to identify drop chains, complex fragmentation schemes faster, and link payments through SBPs to operations in the shadow and crypto sectors. However, the real effect will depend on how much the government invests in high-quality analytical tools, rather than being limited by the very fact of expanded access.
At the same time, according to him, the vulnerability of traditional banking secrecy is increasing. This creates a range of risks, from cybercrime to insider leaks. An additional danger lies in algorithm errors: incomplete models can lead to massive false positives and unreasonable restrictions for bona fide customers.
— For banks, such changes have a dual effect. On the one hand, the flow of requests from Rosfinmonitoring will be sharply reduced, which will reduce the burden on compliance and allow switching to targeted interaction with the regulator. Companies will get more clarity on which operations require clarification," the expert said.
On the other hand, the regulator will begin to see transactional activity more widely than any individual market participant, he stressed. This will strengthen the requirements for data quality, the correctness of internal monitoring models, and the overall maturity of risk processes. Small banks and fintech companies will be under pressure to rapidly invest in IT infrastructure in order not to become a weak link.
The result, in his opinion, will be a redistribution of competition. The payment transactions themselves will turn into a standardized service under tight supervision, and the differences between financial institutions will shift towards customer service, additional ecosystem products, and more fine-tuning of risk management.
Personal data
Expanding the capabilities of Rosfinmonitoring can significantly increase the effectiveness of detecting financial offenses, Elman Mehdiyev, General Director of the Association for the Development of Financial Literacy, confirmed to Izvestia. A significant proportion of transactions potentially related to the legalization of criminal funds or the support of extremist structures are carried out through electronic payment tools. Therefore, the timely access of the regulatory agency to information on the movement of funds becomes a key element of effective counteraction to such schemes.
— In fact, we are talking about a long-needed strengthening of the financial security system. As for threats to privacy, concerns are misplaced. Data processing is transferred to specialized government agencies operating in a strictly regulated legal environment, which eliminates additional risks for citizens," he said.
For the banking sector and other market players, the expansion of financial information exchange, in his opinion, means stricter supervisory procedures. They will have to monitor customer behavior more closely and correlate it with established norms. This may cause dissatisfaction among those who expected concessions, but ordinary users making standard payments will hardly feel the changes.
All issues related to personal data and bank secrecy remain protected by existing regulations, Alexey Voylukov noted. Rosfinmonitoring already has the opportunity to work with such information, but only the route of their receipt changes, not the volume or nature. Previously, data was sent through banks, which often slowed down the process and could involve less convenient communication channels. The new format, on the contrary, is based on more technological and direct interaction with the NSPK. The level of security and channel protection will not be weaker, but most likely higher than the current one, so there will be no threats to privacy.
— On the contrary, such an update should reduce the operational burden for the banking sector. Currently, Rosfinmonitoring is forced to contact several banks at once to obtain information on individual clients or transactions. After the transition to centralized data acquisition through the NSPK, the number of such requests will decrease dramatically," the expert emphasized.
This, he says, will reduce manual labor and speed up work processes. Only the NSPK will have a slight increase in tasks, but this organization has the necessary resources and performs government functions, which allows it to cope with the additional workload.
Expanding the powers of Rosfinmonitoring can improve the effectiveness of combating financial crimes by speeding up data analysis and reducing the burden on banks, Peter Shcherbachenko, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia. However, it is important to ensure reliable protection of personal data and financial secrecy.
The Ministry of Finance forwarded Izvestia's request to Rosfinmonitoring, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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