BANKING

Under the Federal Law dated 03 February 2014 No. 12-FZ "On Amending Article 22 of the Federal Law On Banks and Banking Activity and Article 1 of the Federal Law on Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation" representative offices of foreign banks and other credit organizations in Russia shall be accredited by the Bank of Russia according to the procedure set forth by the latter and shall be authorized to conduct their activity from the moment of such accreditation.

At the same time the obligation of foreign credit organizations to notify the Bank of Russia on opening of representative offices in Russia remains effective.

The Bank of Russia shall be authorized to process the personal data of the head and deputy head of a representative office of a foreign credit organization as well as of candidates to these positions.

The abovementioned amendments come into force from 6 May 2014.

COMMUNICATION

The Federal Law dated 03 February 2014 No.9-FZ "On Amending the Federal Law On Communication" an operator that occupies a significant position in the public communication network within the territory of at least two thirds of the constituent entities of Russia shall be obliged to provide all-in-one communication services and may not waive such obligation. A contract for provision of all-in-one communication services with such operator should include the material conditions set forth by the  Federal Law On Communication.

All-in-one communication services include the following services provided with the use of collective access means and access points:

  • telephone communication services with usage of payphones, multifunctional devices, information kiosks and similar devices;
  • data transfer services and provision of access to Internet by using collective access means and access points.
  • The terms "collective access means" and "access points" are introduced in the Federal Law On Communication.
  • The procedures and terms for provision of all-in-one communication services shall be set forth by the Government of Russia upon the proposal of Roscomnadzor taking into account, in particular, the following principles,:
  • the time for access by a user of the collective access means without using any transport should not exceed one hour;
  • at least one access point should be provided for in residential areas with the population from 250 to 500 people where there is a collective access means for the purposes of provision of telephone communication services;
  • an access point should be connected with by using fiber-optic communication lines and should provide for data transfer to the end users equipment at the speed not less than 10 megabit per second.
  • The abovementioned Federal Law comes into force from 7 March 2014.

CORPORATE LAW

The Government of Russia introduced for consideration of the State Duma a draft Federal Law No. 444366-6  "On amending Article 90 of the first part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Article 16 of the Federal Law On Limited Liability Companies" according to which the founders of a limited liability company (an LLC) shall be permitted to pay the charter capital in the full within two months after the state registration of the company.

Currently not less than 50% of the charter capital of an LLC should be paid for by the founders by the moment of its state registration and the application for the state registration under Р11001 should contain the confirmation of such payment otherwise the application shall be deemed not duly filled in and the authorized body may refuse in the state registration of the LLC. The remaining part of the charter capital should be paid within one year after the state registration. In the event of failure by a founder of its participation interest in the charter capital of the LLC a part thereof which has not been paid for vests with the company and should be disposed of by the latter in accordance with Article 24 of the Federal Law On Limited Liability Companies within one year.

The proposed amendments will allow to reduce time required for establishment of an LLC since founders of a company will not need to open a cumulative (temporary) bank account for the purposes of payment of the first part of the charter capital. At the same time the consequences of a failure by the founders to pay the charter capital in the full in term shall remain the same.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.