On 27 November 2015, the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine issued Resolution №833 On Approval of Amendments to the Instruction on the Procedure of Opening, Use and Closing of Accounts in Domestic and Foreign Currencies (hereinafter – Resolution No. 833).

The adoption of Resolution No. 833 creates the prerequisites to ease doing business in Ukraine and facilitates public access to the services provided by international online payment systems.

Resolution No. 833 intends to align NBU Board Resolution No. 492 Instruction on the Procedure of Opening, Use and Closing of Accounts in Domestic and Foreign Currencies of 12 November 2015 with new legislative requirements. 

Resolution No. 833, inter alia, has:

• Obliged banks to verify their client’s identity;
• Streamlined the rules governing how banks open accounts for businesses (when opening accounts for their corporate clients, banks are authorized to obtain information on businesses directly from the official website of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs);
• Introduced the principle of tacit consent in case of non-receipt by the bank of a notice from the controlling authorities notifying that the business entity’s account has been entered into the records of taxpayers’ accounts;
• Streamlined the procedure of opening accounts for non-resident investors (it will be allowed to certify the authenticity of a signature on a card through the use of foreign notaries);
• Streamlined the procedure of closing accounts for clients that have pending foreign trade contracts;
• Allowed foreign currency transferred from abroad to be credited to the current accounts held by individuals; and
• Set out the procedure for opening accounts by the guardian of a person deprived of legal capacity.