Russian Business Week: Finance and Banking conference

A conference entitled ‘Finance and Banking in Russia: Financial Intermediation and Mid-Term Prospects’ was arranged by RSPP and run as a panel discussion.

The main object of the conference was to formulate a set of the financial community’s recommendations for Russia’s finance market mega-regulator that is the country’s Central Bank. According to RSPP President Alexander Shokhin, the community believes the Central Bank needs procedural tools similar to regulatory impact assessment that would assimilate the impact produced by the Central Bank’s decisions on the finance market. Mr Shokhin argued that it bringing the Presidential Council for Financial Stability back to life would be particularly timely. “Ноwever, apart from the International Financial Centre task force, there’s no visible sign of activity on this front. Of course, the IFC is a very important matter indeed, but it is no less important that the Central Bank should be alive to the consequences of its own decisions”, added Mr. Shokhin.

RSPP Executive Vice-President Alexander Murychev voiced concern over the insufficient economic growth in Russia in 2013 – 1.3%; whereas the 2014 developments have cast grave doubts as to whether there will be any economic growth this year at all. That said, Mr. Murychev is convinced that, despite the drooping ratings, the West will impose no serious sanctions on Russia since it too has a stake in economic engagement with Russia. “The real question is, what happens to Russian assents situated in Ukraine, both industrial and financial? Much of that property was acquired after a foreclosure on Ukrainian companies, so we’re waiting for the Ukrainian authorities to act”, Mr. Murychev reflects.

According to A. Murychev, the negative factors affecting economic growth in 2014 will almost certainly lead, to lending resource shrinkage. At the same time, the Bank of Russia will be definitely tightening its policing requirements. So Russian banks had better be warned.

Joining the RSPP leadership at the panel discussion were URALSIB Board Chairman Ilka Salonen, UniCredit Board Chairman Mikahil Alekseyev, head of the Russian Bank Association Garegin Tosunyan, the President of the National Union of Insurers Igor Yurgens, Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moïseyev, the Deposit Insurance Agency spokesman Andrey Pekhterev and the Bank of Russia representative Vasily Pozdyshev.

© RSPP PR