The right to transfer currency by Russian companies to foreign accounts

LEGAL DIGEST, NEWS \ 19.04.2022

A subcommittee of the Government Committee for the Control of Foreign Investments has adopted a decision according to which national companies can make transfers in foreign currency to their accounts in foreign banks.

In addition to the adopted decision, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation noted that the following decisions should be taken to implement such measures:

1. Currency transfer to foreign bank accounts is possible only if the current operating activities of branches and representative offices are financed. The amount of the transfer should not exceed the amount of financing for the previous year.
2. It is not prohibited to transfer currency to the accounts of citizens of the Russian Federation in foreign banks received from non-residents in the form of salary, lease, coupons and dividends on securities and other interest payments.

Russian citizens could transfer funds in foreign currency from their foreign accounts to other foreign accounts until March 1, 2022. At the same time, information about such accounts has to be disclosed to the Russian tax authorities.

Despite the fact that from this period there is a prohibition on the transfer of foreign currency to bank accounts outside the country, it is not prohibited to make transfers in Russian rubles to ruble accounts in foreign banks. These funds could be converted into foreign currency and credited to another account in a foreign bank.

In this connection, it is not prohibited to transfer salary and other income to an employee in rubles to a ruble account in a foreign bank.

In the matters of conducting monetary transactions, please contact Acsour specialists.