16:11
USD 89.51
EUR 96.93
RUB 0.97

Government of Kyrgyzstan repeatedly raises access to bank accounts issue

Government of Kyrgyzstan submitted a draft decree on approval of a plan of measures for the implementation of anti-corruption measures of state bodies of Kyrgyzstan for 2019-2021 for public discussion.

The action plan, among other things, refers to the creation of a centralized registry of bank accounts. According to the document, it will also contain information on the beneficial owners and will be available to the investigating authorities without a court order in order to quickly identify bank accounts during financial investigations.

The document provides for application of political figures concept in the legislation on countering money laundering to nationals, who perform important public functions.

In addition, the government intends to expand the definition of a politician, including into it leaders of public companies, political parties, as well as family members and relatives of a politician.

It is proposed to provide investigating authorities with direct access to the databases of tax and customs bodies on the condition of proper protection of personal data, to harmonize the provisions of national legislation regarding access of law enforcement agencies to tax information.

In December 2018, the Financial Intelligence Service requested data from commercial banks about all their clients. Experts, lawyers, the Union of Banks, the Ministry of Economy and the National Bank considered this requirement illegal and violating bank secrecy. As a result, representatives of the service told that not a single bank provided them with complete information about all clients, and they would work out creation of a register of all clients of commercial banks with the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan.

Popular