The Bank of Russia published methodological guidance for credit institutions on October 26 concerning checks on the origins of funds involved in large cash transactions.
The regulator suggests paying particular attention to transactions that are unusual for an individual customer. For private individuals, one benchmark is 5 million rubles or more deposited either at once or in several transactions over a month. For businesses, the nature and usual scale of their transactions should be taken into account.
Banks may request documentation explaining where the money came from, such as proof of income, property sale agreements, inheritance or gift documents, or loan records. The aim is to identify transactions showing signs of laundering criminal proceeds and to make customer verification procedures more transparent.
The new document consolidates several earlier Bank of Russia recommendations and supersedes the relevant previous guidance.
No new blanket ban has been imposed on cash deposits of 5 million rubles or more. Exceeding the benchmark does not, by itself, mean that a bank must freeze the customer's account. The regulator stresses the need to consider the circumstances of the transaction and the customer's usual financial behavior.