The National Bank of Ukraine has streamlined the rules governing the issuance of licenses allowing nonbank financial institutions licenses to transfer domestic currency funds without opening accounts.

“The NBU pushes ahead with its efforts to adopt a unified approach to licensing and a new Regulation on Licensing of Transactions Involving Funds Transfer marks the next step in this process,” said NBU Deputy Governor Kateryna Rozhkova. The new document provides for an analysis of the ownership structure of a licensee and the assessment of its business reputation. In addition, the regulator is set pay much attention to reviewing the business plans of the companies intending to provide money transfer services and assess their financial standing.

The new Regulation has:

• defined the conditions under which the NBU shall issue licenses  to execute funds transfers and expanded the list of documents required to obtain such licenses from the NBU;
• removed from the list of documents required to obtain a license, internal documents on AML compliance and imposed a requirement on nonbank financial institutions to develop and approve internal documents on AML compliance within one month from the date of obtaining a license
• imposed a requirement on nonbank financial  institutions to disclose information on the ownership structure and established a procedure for submitting this information;
• set out requirements for the financial standing of nonbank  financial institutions, their business reputation and business reputation of managers and qualifying shareholders in these institutions;
• required nonbank financial institutions that have a obtained a license to transfer domestic currency funds and to provide services related to cash acceptance and its further transfer to set out a procedure for calculating limits on cash stocks  at the cash desks of points receiving cash funds and determine the frequency of cash collection; and
• expanded grounds for refusal to issue and revoke licenses to transfer domestic currency funds.

According to this resolution, nonbank financial institutions that hold licenses to execute funds transfers will be granted a transition period to bring their activities into compliance with the new requirements. Thus,  licensees shall be required to:

• submit to the NBU a questionnaire (Annex 3 to this Regulation) and  information  about its pattern of ownership according to the requirements of Section VI herein within three months from the entry into force of this regulation. Nonbank financial institutions that hold licenses for money transfers in domestic currency without opening accounts  and General License for FX operations are not required to submit information on the ownership structure in accordance with this  paragraph; and
• bring their operations, ownership structure, financial standing and business reputation into compliance with the requirements set forth in the Regulation within six months from the entry into force of this Resolution and submit to the NBU written assurances that their activities are in full compliance with this Regulation.

The aforementioned amendments are provided for by the Regulation On the Procedure for Granting Nonbank Financial Institutions Licenses to Transfer National Currency Funds Without Opening Accounts approved by NBU Board Resolution No 80 dated  17 August 2017 and  shall come into force on the day following its official publication.

The previous regulation approved by NBU Board  Resolution No. 57 of 26 February 2013 has become invalid.