MOSCOW. Dec 2 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill setting out a procedure for banks, insurers and professional participants to counter the proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
The bill was proposed by a group of Duma members led by the financial market committee head, Anatoly Aksakov, in early June.
The changes are being made to 28 federal laws in sync with the April 12, 2018 law enforcing the UN SC resolutions on North Korea, Iran and the WMD nonproliferation. The law stipulated the freezing of financial and other assets of blacklisted organizations and individuals, known to be involved in the proliferation of the WMDs, and informing the Russian Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) about measures taken.
The law, which has been published on the official legal information website, clarifies the internal monitoring rules for banks and professional participants on how to counter the financing of the proliferation of the WMDs.
Repeated violation of the anti-laundering and WMD nonproliferation laws and related Central Bank requirements over a 12-month period will be reason enough for suspending an insurer's license. If such instances continue to occur during the year after such suspension for the same reason, the license can be revoked. As part of anti-WMD efforts, the regulator may recall a license to operate on the securities market, a license of a private pension fund, a joint-stock investment fund, a management company or a specialized depository. The Central Bank will be allowed to ask a court to shut down a pawnshop or a lending cooperative and remove a micro finance organization from the register.
The bill was signed by the State Duma on November 6 and approved by the Federation Council on November 25, 2019.
It was reported that the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) requires all nations to enact laws which prohibit assisting and financing any non-State actor which attempts " to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes."