Банковские системы: России, Америки, Британии.


The Bank of Russia.


The tasks and functions of the Bank of Russia are set by the Constitution
of the Russian Federation and Federal Law on the Central Bank of the
Russian Federation (Bank of Russia). The Bank of Russia’s main objective is
to protect the rouble and ensure its stability. The Bank of Russia is also
the sole issuing centre and the body of banking regulation and supervision.
Its main functions are formulated in Article 4 of the Federal Law on the
Central Bank:

- in collaboration with the government of the Russian Federation, it
elaborates and implements a uniform national monetary policy designed to
protect the rouble and ensure its stability;

- it is the only issuer of cash and the organiser of its circulation;

- it is the creditor of last resort for credit organisations and organises
the refinancing system;

- it sets the settlement rules of the Russian Federation;

- it sets the rules of conducting banking operations and accounting and the
reporting rules for the banking system;

- it conducts state registration of credit organisations and issues and
revokes the licences of credit organisations and the organisations that
audit them;

- it supervises the activities of credit organisations;

- it registers the issue of securities by credit organisations in
accordance with federal laws;

- it conducts, on its own behalf or on behalf of the government of the
Russian Federation, all kinds of banking operations necessary for the
Central Bank’s implementation of its main duties;

- it conducts foreign exchange regulation, including operations to buy and
sell foreign exchange, and establishes the procedure for effecting
settlements with foreign countries;

- it organises and exercises foreign exchange control on its own and
through authorised banks in accordance with the laws of the Russian
Federation;

- it participates in making Russian Federation balance of payments
forecasts and organises the drafting of the Russian Federation’s balance of
payments;

- it analyses and forecasts the state of the Russian Federation’s economy
as a whole and by region, concerning specifically monetary, credit, foreign
exchange, financial and price relations, publishes the corresponding
materials and statistical data and performs other functions in accordance
with federal laws.



The Bank of Russia co-ordinates and regulates settlement relations in
Russia and establishes the rules, forms, deadlines and standards for non-
cash settlements obligatory for all legal entities and natural persons. The
forms of non-cash settlements are determined by the Civil Code of the
Russian Federation.
The principal forms of non-cash settlements today are payment orders and,
to a lesser extent, payment requests (for collection). Letters of credit
and cheques are used on a small scale.
A part of settlements is effected by legal entities and private individuals
using payment cards, which are gaining ever wider acceptance.
The Bank of Russia is making efforts to ensure the effective and
uninterrupted functioning of the settlements system and enhance its
reliability.
Non-cash settlements are effectuated through correspondent accounts opened
with the Bank of Russia, correspondent accounts opened by credit
institutions with one another, correspondent accounts opened with non-bank
settlement credit institutions and through the system ofintrabank
settlements, using inter-branch settlement accounts.
Russian legislation accords the Bank of Russia a special place in the
country's payments system. The Bank of Russia not only ensures general
guidance of the payments system and provides the methodology and
organisation of settlements, but also directly participates in this system,
effecting interbank settlements through its divisions.
The payments made through the Bank of Russia settlement network account for
a large part of the payments turnover.
Every participant in the settlements effected through the Bank of Russia
settlement network is awarded an identification code. The Bank of Russia
keeps the Russian Federation Bank Identification Code Directory (BIC
Directory), which contains the following data: the name of each credit
institution participating in settlements and its bank identification code,
correspondent account with the Bank of Russia and domicile.
The BIC Directory is regularly reviewed and updated.
The credit institutions located in the Russian Federation (resident credit
institutions) and having the banking licence of the Central Bank of the
Russian Federation open only one correspondent account with one of the Bank
of Russia institutions (a cash settlement centre or operations department),
which services them. The branches of credit institutions may have
correspondent subaccounts to implement settlements and may not have such
accounts. If they don't, they effect settlements through the correspondent
account of their parent organisation or the subaccount of another branch.
Overall, the Russian payments system comprises about 1,400 resident credit
institutions, more than 4,000 branches of credit institutions and nearly
1,200 subdivisions of the settlement system and it is the principal means
of implementing the official monetary policy by the Bank of Russia.
Non-cash settlements of clients of credit institutions and their branches
are effected from the bank accounts opened with these institutions. In
special cases, stipulated by the law, legal entities may have accounts
opened with Bank of Russia institutions.
Credit institutions and their branches with correspondent accounts and
subaccounts with the Bank of Russia effect settlements for their clients
for commodities, works and services and make tax and other compulsory
payments and their own income payments to the budget and payments to the
accounts of state extrabudgetary funds through the various divisions of the
Bank of Russia settlement network.
As for the settlements between clients of one credit institution (branch),
they are effected by writing off or entering funds to the clients'
corresponding accounts, bypassing the correspondent account of the credit
institution (or its branch's subaccount) opened with a Bank of Russia
institution.
Settlements between the cash settlement centres of the regional divisions
of the Bank of Russia, serviced by a single computer centre, on
transactions of credit institutions (or their branches) and on their own
transactions are effected through the accounts opened specially for this
purpose.
The correctness of settlements effected by the cash settlement centres is
confirmed by the concurrence of the initial and reply turnovers in the
process of confirmation, that is by comparing each reply entry with the
initial one.
Payments are effected if there are funds in the correspondent accounts of
credit institutions or subaccounts of their branches and within the amount
of these funds. If a credit institution (or its branch) has not enough
funds to meet all claims made on it, funds are written down from its
correspondent account or from the subaccount of its branch to effect
payments for its clients and its own payments in the order established by
the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, documents are put
into the file of unpaid settlement documents, attached to the correspondent
account of the credit institution or the subaccount of its branch.
Settlements effected through the Bank of Russia settlement network are
based not only on paper, but also electronic payment documents. These are
the so-called intra- and interregional electronic settlements. The latter
are regulated by the Provisions on Inter-Regional Electronic Settlements
Effected through the Bank of Russia Settlement Network. The exchange of
electronic documents through the Bank of Russia settlement network is
regulated by the Provision on the Rules of Exchange of Electronic Documents
between the Bank of Russia, Credit Institutions (Branches) and Other
Clients of the Bank of Russia in Effecting Settlements through the Bank of
Russia Settlement Network, adopted in March 1998.
The divisions of the Bank of Russia settlement network participate in
electronic settlements as the bodies registering and supervising payments.
Credit institutions, their branches and other clients of the Bank of Russia
that have correspondent or other accounts with the divisions of the Bank of
Russia settlement network may use electronic settlements. This helps
accelerate money turnover and reduce the amount of funds in settlements.
The term "electronic payment document" (EPD) is used in effecting
electronic settlements in the Bank of Russia settlement network. The EPD is
a document that serves as a legal basis for conducting operations with the
accounts of credit institutions (branches) and other clients of the Bank of
Russia, opened with a Bank of Russia institution, bearing an electronic
digital signature and having equal legal force, stipulated in an agreement
with the Bank of Russia, with paper based payment documents signed by the
authorised persons with their own hand and stamped.
At present the electronic payment documents presented for execution to a
Bank of Russia institution must contain the requisites in accordance with
which operations with accounts are conducted. Two kinds of EPD may be
exchanged:
—full-format EPD containing all requisites of a payment document, including
textual requisites;
-abndged-format EPD containing the requisites necessary for conducting
operations with accounts in a Bank of Russia institution.
The transfer of funds using fall-format EPD does not require accompanying
payment documents on paper, while the transfer of funds using abndged-
format EPD must be accompanied by an exchange of paper based payment
documents, filled out in accordance with the established procedure.
During 1999 the Bank of Russia plans to phase in a paperless technology in
its settlement system, using full-format electronic payment documents only
in the exchange of electronic documents between Bank of Russia institutions
and between the Bank of Russia and credit institutions.
After January 1,1998, the Bank of Russia charges a fee for its settlement
services. Some kinds of settlement operations are conducted by the Bank of
Russia free of charge.
Interbank settlements effected through correspondent accounts opened by
credit institutions with one another play a part in the general payment
turnover.
The rules of settlement operations with correspondent accounts of credit
institutions opened with other credit institutions are formulated in the
Bank of Russia Provisions on Effecting Non-Cash Settlements by Credit
Institutions in the Russian Federation, which came into effect in 1998.
The operations conducted with correspondent accounts of correspondent banks
are divided into two types: operations to service clients and own interbank
operations.
The development of correspondent relations depends on various factors, such
as mutual payment flows, price and demand in the credit market, the
possibility of participating in trading in the regional government
securities markets and on currency exchanges and the risk levels.
Specifically, settlements in correspondent relations are effected with
credit institutions in CIS and other countries.
Settlements through clearing institutions are one of the means of interbank
settlements.
The development of clearing settlements depends on the financial condition
of credit institutions and the state of the money markets. Eight settlement
credit institutions have been granted permanent licence as clearing houses.
Clearing operations are based on a clearing model requiring the
participating banks to make preliminary deposits in their accounts with the
clearing institution.
Nearly 2,000 credit institutions and their branches and other corporate
clients effect settlements through non-bank clearing institutions.
The Bank of Russia has a decisive role to play in elaborating the
principles of organising clearing operations and monitoring compliance with
these principles.
Intrabank settlements are gaining acceptance. They include settlements
between a head office of a credit institution and its branches and between
branches of a credit institution. The procedure for conducting settlement
operations with inter-branch settlement accounts in Russia is established
by the Bank of Russia Provisions on Conducting Non-Cash Settlements by
Credit Institutions in the Russian Federation.
A mid-term strategy for the development of Russia's payments system was
elaborated in 1996. It sets forth as the main objectives of the reform of
the system further modernising settlements, upgrading banking technologies,
introducing new instruments of payment, raising the standard of services
provided to credit institutions and other organisations and creating
conditions for liquidity management.
To raise the banking technology of implementing settlements onto a
qualitatively new level, new methods are being developed, new rules and
regulations are being enforced, new technologies are being introduced and
new organisational principles are being established. Efforts are also being
made to accelerate the introduction of electronic documents and build an
advanced automated real-time system of settlements.
To this end, steps are being taken to determine the status and functions of
individual subsystems for the implementation of settlements, enable credit
institutions to manage their liquidity more accurately, develop and
introduce formats of electronic documents and settlement documents on
paper, stimulate the functioning of clearing institutions, improve
conditions for the introduction of bank payment cards in order to reduce
the amount of cash in circulation, and elaborate regulatory rules in these
areas.
The Bank of Russia division responsible for ensuring methodologically and
organisationally the efficient and uninterrupted functioning of the
national payments system is the Methodology and Organisation of Settlements
Department.
In accordance with its Statute, the Department ensures the implementation
of the main tasks involved in developing and upgrading the methods of non-
cash payments in the Russian Federation, elaborating a concept of
development of the Bank of Russia payments system and organising
supervision of the Bank of Russia settlement divisions and other settlement
systems.
1 2 3