What is Law No. 115-FZ?

This is the Federal Law of August 7, 2001 No. 115-FZ “On counteracting the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism”. It defines the duties and responsibilities of organizations that work with the money and property of citizens: banks, insurance companies, microfinance organizations, etc.

The purpose of the law is to prevent the legalization of illegal proceeds and the financing of terrorism.

Why do banks block cards referring to 115-FZ?

According to the law 115-FZ, all banks are required to analyze monetary transactions their customers and check them for suspicion. This is done according to the criteria of the Central Bank, which are spelled out in Regulation No. 375-P of March 2, 2012. They track any operations similar to the illegal transfer of non-cash money into cash (“cashing out”), to the confusion of settlement schemes and the concealment of the true purposes and participants in transactions (“transit”), to the illegal withdrawal of money abroad.

If the bank discovers transactions that raise doubts about the legality, it has the right:

• temporarily block the client's bank cards;
• disable access to Internet banking (web version and Sberbank Online application);
• refuse the client to issue cash or transfer money by bank transfer;
• refuse the client to open an account, issue or re-issue a card.

Banks are also required by law to block the accounts of clients involved in extremist activities or terrorism. The Federal Financial Monitoring Service includes such people and organizations in a special list. No one Russian bank does not have the right to work with the accounts of those who are currently in it.

Why do banks request documents on the origin of money and the economic meaning of operations?

This is necessary to decide whether to recognize the client as really involved in dubious monetary transactions. If you provide documents according to which the income is legal and the expenses are explainable, access to accounts and cards will be restored. The bank approaches each case individually and is interested in applying such measures as blocking or denial of service only if suspicions are justified.

What threatens the client with refusal to banking services according to the law 115-FZ?

If the bank refused to service, then:

• the client will not be able to open new accounts and deposits, receive new bank cards, including re-issued ones;
• valid customer cards will remain blocked;
• the client will not be able to use Sberbank Online;
• the client will be able to carry out all operations on accounts only at the bank office;
• operations for large amounts, the client will be able to carry out only in agreement with the bank;
• problems may arise when opening accounts and cards in other banks.

If the bank during the calendar year refused to service 2 times or more, the account is closed.

How not to fall under suspicion or prove that the operations are legal?

It is enough to follow simple rules when using your accounts.

1. Do not agree to the requests of acquaintances, relatives, friends, etc. transfer money through your accounts and cards that you have nothing to do with, especially when it comes to large amounts. Moreover, do not agree to withdraw this money in cash.
2. Do not give your bank cards to anyone, even close relatives - cards can be used for "cashing out" and "transit".
3. Withdraw cash from your accounts, deposits and cards only when it is really necessary, especially if the money is credited to accounts, deposits and cards by bank transfer. Try to use a non-cash form of payment.
4. Do not use your bank cards for illegal entrepreneurial activity- register as individual entrepreneur and issue a business card.
5. Do not agree to the requests of acquaintances, relatives, friends, etc. register you as a director of an organization or as an individual entrepreneur if you are not going to really participate in the business.
6. If you are a self-employed person and have bank cards that you received as an individual, do not use them to accept payments from buyers or pay suppliers and contractors. Issue a Business Card for these purposes;
7. Make sure that transactions on your accounts can be documented. Keep all papers in order (contracts, invoices, invoices, payments, etc.).
8. Cooperate with the bank: if you do not answer its questions about the legality of certain transactions, the conclusions may not be in your favor.
9. If the bank asks you to confirm the legitimacy of the origin of the money in your accounts and the economic sense of the operations being carried out, be sure to send the information of interest to the bank within the period specified in the request and to the specified address. The more detailed you explain everything, and the faster the data arrives at the bank, the higher the likelihood that the issue will be resolved favorably for you.

How does the bank inform the client about doubts about the legality of monetary transactions?

If the bank has questions, it notifies the client about this by any accessible ways: usually by phone via SMS, less often by e-mail. In such messages, the bank may:

• write about blocking cards and turning off Sberbank Online in accordance with the requirements of Law 115-FZ;
• request information and documents confirming the legality of the origin of funds in the accounts and the economic meaning of the operations;
• notify that the documents have been accepted for work, indicate the terms for their consideration, and, if necessary, write about a possible extension of the deadlines;
• inform about what decision has been made - when accounts and cards will be (and will) be unblocked and whether access to Sberbank Online will be restored.

In some cases, the bank sends a request to its office at the place of opening an account, deposit or issuing a card. In it, the bank requests information and documents confirming that the money in the client's accounts is of legal origin, and the operations being carried out make economic sense.

How to send the requested information and documents to the bank?

When a bank asks a client for information and documents on the legality of the origin of money and the economic meaning of the operations, it will definitely tell you how to transfer them. It is necessary to send documents to the bank in the exact way and to the address specified in the request. Usually the bank offers to send scanned copies of documents by e-mail. Also, the client may be asked to bring documents to the bank office at the place of opening an account or issuing a card, or send copies by paper mail.

If you send documents by e-mail, be sure to indicate your full name in the subject line. It is better to send files in PDF format. The total size of the letter should not exceed 12 MB. If you need to send more, break it up into several emails.

If you decide to send documents by paper mail, remember that such a letter may be late. Then the bank will not receive it on time, and this may affect its decision. If possible, send documents by e-mail or, if indicated in the request, bring them to the bank office.

If you are unable to provide required documents or you do not have them, inform the bank as soon as possible in the way indicated in the request why this situation has arisen. The more detailed and faster you explain everything, the better. This can be a determining factor when the bank makes a decision.

What supporting documents need to be submitted to the bank?

These can be any documents that confirm the legitimacy of the origin of funds in your accounts and the economic meaning of the operations. Complete list does not exist, because the reasons can be very different.

For example, these can be sales contracts, work contracts, loan agreements, rental agreements for premises, property lease agreements, invoices for payment for goods and services, receipts for payment, pay slips wages, IOUs, account statements in other banks, tax certificates, etc.

What should I do if the bank refuses to service (does not open an account, does not issue a card, including a reissued one)?

If the bank requested documents and information from you, referring to 115-FZ, but you did not send anything, just do it in the way indicated in the request and wait for a decision.

If you sent all the documents, but the bank made a negative decision, nothing can be done. After a while, you can try again to open an account or card - the bank may review your question after a certain period.

The bank imposed restrictions on my accounts based on information received from Rosfinmonitoring. What does it mean? Can I get my money?

This means that the bank received information from Federal Service on financial monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring) about your possible involvement in extremist activities or terrorism. According to the law 115-FZ, the bank is obliged to limit the conduct of operations on your accounts. You have the right to dispose of the funds on the accounts in the form and in the amounts provided for in clause 2.4 of Art. 6, clause 4, article 7.4 of Law 115-FZ. You will not be able to use bank cards and Sberbank Online, transactions will be possible at the bank's office.

What kind of organization is Rosfinmonitoring?

The Federal Financial Monitoring Service is an executive body whose task is to counteract the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism. Rosfinmonitoring maintains a list of organizations and individuals involved in extremist activities or terrorism. The grounds for inclusion in the list are listed in paragraph 2.1 of Art. 6 of Law 115-FZ. You can get acquainted with it on the official website of Rosfinmonitoring. If you believe that you have been included in the list by mistake, or there are grounds for deleting you from the list, in accordance with clause 2.3 of Art. 6 of Law 115-FZ, you have the right to apply to Rosfinmonitoring with a written application to remove you from the list.

In addition, the interagency coordinating body counteracting the financing of terrorism may decide to freeze (block) Money or other property of the organization or individual in accordance with Art. 7.4 of Law 115-FZ.

What to do if there are still questions?

Contact the bank for advice in any way convenient for you:

• to an employee in any bank office;
• by phone to the contact center;
• send a message through the on-screen form on the bank's website or through Sberbank Online.

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I found the only case of blocking by the bank "for suspicious payments" of cards for which charitable donations were collected by a private person. This happened in 2015, when Sberbank blocked Lida Moniava's cards, somehow linking this to Lida's use of PayPal accounts. But this case can be unequivocally regarded as unique, meaning nothing and not leading to any conclusions.

Firstly, Lida Moniava is the only one who collects several million rubles on her cards with literally one post on Facebook within a few hours. Very few, both honest fundraisers and dishonest collectors, operate with such amounts, and fees of less than 600 thousand rubles are completely below the official banking radar.

Secondly, it was precisely some connection with the foreign transfer system that seemed suspicious to the bank, and not the payments themselves.

And thirdly, the cards and accounts were unblocked pretty quickly, as soon as the network began to become indignant.

In general, summing up, we can say quite confidently that an information virus is a virus and it is, it should be treated. And you should also be engaged in prevention, that is, try to work only “in a white manner” and not transfer money for charitable collections to personal cards.

In general, nothing has changed. All the "victims of new system"operated with rather large sums - money from the sale of cars, apartments and inheritance.

There are many who are somehow related to the banking industry and are interested in what is happening on banking market in general, they really want to know what is happening in such a well-known popular bank as Sberbank of Russia and what will happen in it in 2019. Therefore, let's look into this and clarify the situation.

Sberbank of Russia closes in 2019?

Against the general background of the consolidation of banks and all sorts of reorganizations in Russia, this issue always comes first. Apparently because people are afraid for their favorite bank, in which they are serviced. Then where to look for the answer? And of course we will answer it for you.

The probability that Sberbank of Russia will be closed is very small, practically equal to zero, especially against the background of other banks. Why is it so?

The thing is that in support of this there are several tangible facts:

• Sberbank of Russia is a systemically important bank for the whole of Russia and it is simply unprofitable for the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to close it and take away its license. If something serious happens, then Sberbank will be reorganized with a 99% probability. This is clear to us. However, now let us turn to the following very significant facts.
• The bank has sufficient equity, which exceeds 2.5 billion rubles, while the requirement of the regulator is only 300 million rubles. And if the capital exceeds the regulator's requirement by several times and does not decrease, then such a bank can be considered reliable. And speaking in general, Sberbank has very high-quality assets, which not all banks in Russia can boast of.
• Sberbank of Russia is a profitable bank. Unlike other banks, which often sparkle with losses, Sberbank sparkles with profit. We will not go into details on this matter, but the fact remains. Therefore, this is another confirmation that the idea that Sberbank is closing will have to be forgotten, at least for 2019 for sure.
• Depositors trust Sberbank of the Russian Federation. Sberbank has more than 9 billion rubles of deposits and this is one of the highest rates among all banks in Russia. Many banks simply do not have such confidence from depositors. So is there any doubt that Sberbank will lose this trust? Well, if only in some extraordinary case. But this is still in theory.
• Sberbank of Russia is managed by German Gref. If you may not know other top managers in banks at all, then you know German Gref for sure. And precisely because Gref himself is the head of Sberbank, it is, of course, possible not to trust Sberbank, but certainly not for this reason.

Sberbank branches are closed.
Why are Sberbank branches closed?

First, pay attention to the statement from German Gref.

According to public statements by the head of Sberbank German Gref, branches in settlements and megacities of Russia will be gradually closed. But this does not mean that Sberbank itself will cease to exist! This is not true!
Then what's the matter?

And the thing is that in any business, there is a time when you need to carry out large-scale business optimization. And usually in banking, it refers specifically to reducing the costs of maintaining branches and offices. You understand that spending on the maintenance of one department is not cheap. And just, crisis times give such a kind of impetus in this direction in order to reduce their own costs. What is it for?

Generally speaking, this is necessary in order for the bank to feel more confident and reliable in the market among competition and show positive financial dynamics, especially if we mean the net profit indicator here.

Therefore, be sure that if you see that some branches of Sberbank are closed, while others continue to work, then this only indicates that the bank is optimizing its business in order to become an even more stable bank and not work at a loss, spending hundreds of millions of rubles just to maintain their own branches.

So, the answer to the question of whether it is true that Sberbank is closing - there is only one answer for 2019 - no, it’s not true, Sberbank has worked and will continue to work even in the difficult conditions of the crisis.

They transferred money to your account for the sale, for example, of a car, or returned a large debt, and now the account has already been blocked. And until you tell, and most importantly, you do not prove with official documents that these funds were obtained legally, the road to them will be closed to you.

But if you cannot confirm transparency, the amount will simply burn out. This is how Sberbank's security robots work. So far, 80% of complaints are from his clients, but soon other credit organizations will adopt this system.

The reasons

Let's start with why your accounts or transfers can be blocked at all. First, for your own safety. For example, if access to money is requested from abroad. Therefore, about foreign trips, you need to warn the bank in advance or at least have a working one with you. mobile phone. The operation may not be carried out if you pay for the services of some foreign company for the first time, which the bank considers unreliable. You will also have to call and confirm the transaction.

The second possible reason for blocking is requirement 115 federal law on combating money laundering and the sponsoring of terrorism. According to it, banks are required to check all transactions over 600 thousand rubles and not only. The account can be blocked when withdrawing or depositing a smaller amount or transferring funds to the account. The system also pays attention to receipts from dubious sources, for example, anonymous wallets. Or frequent and stable transfers from the same client.

According to the same parameters, the third article is also checked, according to which the work of the account can also be suspended. These are undeclared incomes on which you do not pay taxes. So, at the request of the bank, you will have to provide documents confirming the source of the money. The term for consideration of your certificates is from two to five days. But even after the procedure, the bank may make a negative decision to unblock. Citing that the papers don't explain economic sense operations.

As it was before?

So, the mass blocking that has begun now is due to the fact that earlier the screening procedure was not automatic. Suspicious transactions were processed by the operator and made a decision to block. Moreover, the filter was much softer. Just because human resources would not be enough to analyze all the millions of transfers. Now Sberbank has got super computers. The data processing center is located in St. Petersburg. The computer program analyzes millions of daily transactions and makes an intelligent selection.

It also studies those with whom you most often settle accounts, your income and other information, and decides on blocking. And the error of the system is only, attention, 10%. That is, the vast majority of owners of blocked accounts were indeed, as they say, not without sin. Representatives of Sberbank said that the System has been implemented, it works and will not slow down.

draw conclusions

Thus, the era when it was possible to transfer money to each other for the repair of an apartment and even for the provision of manicure services at home is over. Now these are traceable signs, for which you will have to answer later.

Try not to withdraw large amounts to bank cards (of any), if you have already transferred them, do not run like a horse to withdraw them immediately, so as not to prove to the tax office that you are not a camel.

For online transfers, use anonymous payment system advanced cash.

P.S. On June 28, 2018, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin signed a law (see here), where he gave the right to banks to officially block cards and electronic wallets. The official goal is to counter theft and fraud. As it will be in reality - time will tell.

Three days to report

Recently, banks have simply become “insolent” and have begun to block transfers of even 1,000 rubles! And they began to demand from the client to provide a report for three days. And not only about this operation, but in general for all movements of money in the account. Clients of Binbank, Tinkoff Bank and Sberbank faced such a problem. Allegedly, thus financial institutions they are trying to resist illegal schemes and fraud - for example, the avoidance of entrepreneurs from paying taxes.

However, such actions of banks violate a number of articles Russian legislation. When blocking the card for such small transfers, feel free to contact the reception Central Bank and even to court, because you could transfer this money for medicines to a relative or friend, imagine what consequences this will bring to the bank if your relative does not buy medicines on time.

The maximum that is within the competence of the bank is to receive confirmation from the client that the transfer is made with his consent. And then, if the amount exceeds 600,000 rubles (according to the current legislation - which was confirmed by financial intelligence and Rosfinmonitoring), all other actions of the bank are illegal.