OREANDA-NEWS The Russian authorities have granted the right to identify foreign citizens for financial transactions on the domestic market to organizations from 25 countries. RIA Novosti writes about this with reference to the text of the relevant government decree.

The list of countries includes Russia's largest trading partners — China, India, Turkey, Belarus, Kazakhstan, as well as Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

In total, the list includes eight countries of the former USSR, eight Middle Eastern countries, seven Asian, one African and one South American. The order is related to the law on simplifying the access of foreign citizens to financial services in Russia, adopted in July 2023. The document allows the implementation of new standards.

"Credit organizations, professional participants in the securities market have the right to entrust the identification of a client — a foreign citizen or a foreign legal entity, a representative of such a client, a beneficiary, a beneficial owner and (or) updating information about them," the order says.

In August, it was reported that due to the importance of investments, the Russian authorities agreed to simplify the payment of dividends for foreign investors. Now the transfer of profits to foreigners can be carried out without restrictions, but its volume should not exceed the size of investments in Russia, and investors themselves should invest in the country after April 1, 2022.