Holders of foreign passports will be able to remotely open accounts in Russian banks.

From August 1, 2023, all foreigners, including citizens of unfriendly countries, will be given the opportunity to remotely open an account in banks of the Russian Federation. In this regard, amendments were made to the law “On the legalization of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism”. This is designed to simplify the reception of foreign clients and the opening of accounts by Russian credit institutions.

In particular, the requirement for the mandatory presence of the client himself when opening an account has been canceled. Now foreign financial organizations can identify clients on behalf of Russian banks. In addition, the account can be opened not only by the applicant himself, but also by his representative. It is also important that accounts can now be opened to beneficiaries and beneficiaries of foreign organizations.

Based on the words of the authors of the amendment, its adoption is necessary since “in connection with the sanctions policy of unfriendly states, the activities of the international system (Visa and MasterCard) were suspended on the territory of the Russian Federation.” As a result, foreigners who planned to visit Russia for tourist, business or medical purposes were cut off from the Russian banking infrastructure and could not pay for goods and services with their cards.”