Ukraine will create register of accounts and bank safes of Ukrainians - Cabinet of Ministers approves bill

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a number of bills that provide for the creation of a register of accounts and individual bank safes of individuals and are a condition for Ukraine's accession to the single euro payment area.

This is stated in the report of the Ministry of Finance, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

The government has approved a package of draft amendments to some legislative acts on Ukraine's accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Ukrainians and businesses will be able to make international transfers in euros quickly, without unnecessary fees and under uniform rules for all SEPA member states.

Key changes envisaged by the draft laws:

- Creation of the Register of accounts and individual bank safes of individuals, which will be administered by the Ministry of Finance, will contain only the IBAN, full name of the owner and the name of the bank. Account balances, account movements, contents of safe deposit boxes or opening/closing dates will not be included! (The draft laws will come into force upon adoption and official publication of the laws, except for the provisions concerning the functioning of the Register of Accounts and Safe Deposit Boxes and the Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners of Trusts - they will come into force upon Ukraine's accession to the European Union).

- Preservation of banking secrecy. The registry contains only 1/13 of the full amount of information specified in Article 60 of the Law of Ukraine "On Banks and Banking Activities"

- Only authorized state bodies (the State Financial Monitoring Service, ARMA, NACP, prosecutors, NABU, BES, SBI, National Police of Ukraine, SSU) will have access to the register through secure channels as part of the investigation of serious crimes. No data leakage or publication is allowed!

- The register of ultimate beneficial owners of trusts or other similar legal entities, which will be administered by the Ministry of Finance, is being introduced to ensure transparency of financial flows.

- Improvement of the procedure for verification of the ultimate beneficial owners of legal entities, new mechanisms and sanctions in accordance with AML/CFT standards.

- Additional protection for whistleblowers in the field of financial monitoring and expansion of primary financial monitoring subjects for better control of illegal financial transactions.

- Strengthening control over the transparency and integrity of owners of financial institutions.

As noted, the legislative changes, once adopted by the Parliament, will ensure:

• lower bank fees, faster cross-border payments, increased transparency of the financial system and reduced corruption risks;
• new impetus for integration into the European financial space and access to EU macro-financial assistance;
• reduced transaction costs and an incentive for the export of IT services, which will add up to 0.3% of GDP in purchasing power parity in the first year after the launch of SEPA transfers.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the adoption of the law on Ukraine's accession to the single European payment area SEPA with the provision that it will enter into force after Ukraine's accession to the European Union was announced at a meeting of the Coalition Council.