Russia's Federal Tax Service (FNS) given access to bank secrecy

Since the amendments to the Tax Code in March 2021, FNS can request from Russian banks the following information relating to an account:

- Passport copies of people who have access to funds
- Power of attorney to receive money
- Agreement for opening an account and using online banking
- Cards with samples of signatures and seals
- Information about beneficial owners and beneficiaries
- Information about the client's representatives
The bank must provide FNS with this data within 3 days.

The information can be requested in the context of a tax audit, for purpose of tax collection, suspending transactions on accounts of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs

The government believes that such a measure "will contribute to the whitewashing of the economy, without affecting the interests of bona fide taxpayers."